The Day You Fell from the Sky
by shizu2
Summary: Depressed man meets short-tempered fairy. In this romance drama, Kyouko must overcome her weakness to play her character. Will Ren help her, or will keeping his sanity be the end of him? And why are all those men suddenly going after his kouhai? K&R.
1. Chapter 1 : About parties and dresses

**Hello ! I'm sorry for the people who put me in their author alert list and received a mail saying I wrote a new story while I'm not even close to finishing the ones I've been writing for years, but well... I really wanted to write this one. I hope the French people who read me will understand what I'm saying, since I usually write in French. To the English people : please, bear with my writing, since French is my native language. I have to thank Loverly Light, who kindly accepted to be my beta, even if the pairing wasn't one of her favorite. I'll try to update this story on a regular basis, and not once a year -_-. Hope you'll enjoy !**

**Disclaimer : I only own the ideas, not the characters, but I do own The Day You Fell from the Sky, because I created it, with all of its characters.**

**Pairings : RenxKyouko**

**Summary : "Me ? An angel ? Are you kidding me ?! Don't you recognize a fairy when you see one ? Stupid human living in a stupid planet called Earth ! Mouh, why did I even end up here ?" He swore, this movie would be the end of him. Why was she playing a fairy ?**

_**The Day You Fell from the Sky**_

_Chapter 1: __**About parties and dresses**_

She had read it so many times that she knew all the words by heart, but still, she couldn't believe it. Why would she, of all people, receive such a (weird) invitation? There was definitely no mistake about it though, the letter was addressed at Mogami Kyouko, Love Me Section, LME Productions. For good measure, she read it again, in case she had misread something crucial:

"_Dear Love Me member,_

_Next week we are holding a party at President Lory's residence, __where_ _will be gathered some of the greatest actors of LME Productions. Of course, you – and Kotonami Kanae-san – are very welcome to come._

_As a Love Me member, you ought to wear the finest outfit, to appear as the most lovely girl of the party. During the week, you will be taking dancing lessons, so that you will be a suitable partner for all the men that will come and take you for a dance. __**You are not allowed to refuse any of them**__._

_At the end of this day, you will be taken to choose your outfit at Wonderland's store. Your driver (you may seek their advice for the outfit matter) will wait for you at the entrance of the LME building at 5:30pm._

_We hope to see you at the party next week,_

_Yours Truly__,_

_President Lory's secretary."_

To Kyouko, it looked more like a mission than an invitation to a party, even with all the little hearts that decorated the card. When Sawara-san had given her the letter, she knew that it had something to do with the President's eccentricity. The envelope immediately gave him away: a flashy pink color, with very bright letters written on it, and serpentine popping out of it when opened.

She wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing. On the one hand, she'd have to wear something really nice (with make-up!), but on the other hand... She was frightened at the thought of having to dance with men, and that was something quite unexpected here. She had always dreamed of being a princess swirling in the arms of a wonderful prince, but that was before the 'Sho Fuwa' incident. He had ruined her dreams not only once (when she discovered she had been nothing but a stepping stone to him), but twice (when he stole a kiss from her, even though she tried to convince herself that it wasn't really a kiss). What if there were other men like him who would try to abuse her while dancing? What if she found another stalker like the Beagle?

She was standing at the entrance of the building, a frown on her face and lost in her thoughts, when someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Mogami-san ?"

Said girl jolted around only to be face to face with one Tsuruga Ren.

"T-Tsuruga-san ? W-What are you doing here ?"

"It seems that you need a chauffeur to go to a particular shop, according to Yashiro-san." 'Not to mention it was a direct order from the President' Ren added in his thoughts. Somehow, he knew that his manager had him volunteer for this job, although he was put up to this.

"W-Well, I need to go shopping for a party, but I'm confident that I can go alone. I don't want to bother you, Tsuruga-san, since you already have such a hard schedule to follow." Kyouko was half-bent, as if ready to flee when the opportunity shows up. Her face was beet red, from embarrassment Ren guessed. That was what made him decide to follow the President's order.

"I don't mind, really, since I finished work surprisingly early today. I may seize this opportunity to relax a little. Besides, you're an actress now, and you can't afford the risk of be attacked while you're wandering alone." With that said, he knew she couldn't back off any more.

And she knew it too. Not only he said that it would be a good thing for him to go shopping (although she didn't see how that would be), he almost said she wasn't professional enough for her work! How was she supposed to escape now? She absolutely didn't want HIM to go with her. Weren't girls supposed to be the best partners to do this kind of things, so why on earth was HE the one accompanying her?

She was ruminating those thoughts and so didn't notice the change of the atmosphere. When she finally looked up, the Emperor of the Night was in front of her. She cowered in fear.

"Mogami-san..." The tone was way too menacing to directly look at him, so she avoided his glare.

"Y-Yes, Tsuruga-san?"

"Do you really hate my presence that much?" With that, his expression softened, surprising his kouhai. He was not the Emperor of the Night any more, but he looked like he was pained by the not-so enthusiastic Kyouko. Who answered vehemently to his question:

"O-Of course not, Tsuruga-san! I like you very much! I feel safe when you are around, I already told you so when I had the stalker-problem. Moreover, how could I hate my sempai, who I'm very indebted to?" She was looking at him with such desperate eyes that Ren had to avoid her gaze. Otherwise, he would have given it all away, those feelings of his.

'Stupid girl', he thought, 'for overreacting over such a small thing'. Sure, he had done it on purpose, knowing that she would deny hating him, but he wasn't prepared for this kind of declaration, which of course, wasn't of love (coming from her mouth, that would be impossible), but of profound respect and admiration. Still, having the girl you like say this thing was hard to deal with, even if she didn't mean it the way he wanted her to.

"S-So, do you mind driving me to Wonderland's? The President said I had to get my outfit there."

Ren had almost forgotten about this. He quickly composed himself, as they went to his car.

Unknown to them, Yashiro-san was hidden behind a pillar, and was reporting the beginning of the Operation Shop & Show to the President.

* * *

"Hum... ah... Tsuruga-san ?"

Ren looked up to Kyouko, as she got out of the fitting room. She was wearing a black-laced dress, with red ribbons everywhere (even around her neck and in her hair). The dress ended right above her knees, and she wore long boots, with black tights.

Kyouko shivered at Ren's gaze, who studied her from head to toes. She was definitely regretting accepting this. She felt so nervous being forced to show herself in front of her sempai in each dress she had to try on. And what kind of dresses were those! She had dreamed of princess dresses, but that wasn't it. The shop assistant was having fun, giving her every single dress that was short-lengthened, funny and was showing far too much skin. To parade in such outfits in front of Tsuruga-san, what was he thinking of his kouhai?!

She shifted from foot to foot, waiting for Ren to say something, as the advisor he was supposed to be.

Said man was wondering why he had agreed to this. That was such a torture to see Kyouko in those _cough_sexy_cough_ dresses! He knew now what was the purpose of the President's order. He wanted Ren to choose a dress that would fit his taste, along with making him suffer from forbidden desire.

"I think that dress makes you look like a Gothic Lolita, a nice one of course, but maybe it doesn't fit the event."

"Y-You're right, Tsuruga-san! I'm changing right away!" She went off with such a hurry that the dress twirled a bit too much, and Ren was able to see something he really didn't need to. He was glad no one saw his blush (or so he thought, but that was without counting the President's spy hidden with a video recorder).

As she went on trying more dresses, she noticed her sempai was acting weirder and weirder. He only talked to her while looking elsewhere, and he didn't look so well. Was he sick of this already?

When she returned, she was wearing a long blue dress, sleeveless, with the back only made of laces, slit on almost the whole length of her leg and with white gloves up her elbows. That was the last straw for Ren. He stood up, and began to walk out of the store, mumbling something about getting some fresh air.

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyouko went after him, afraid that he was mad. He turned around, not daring to look at her in the eyes. "A-Are you mad or something?" Seeing he wasn't answering, she began to panic. "Look, I'll return this dress, and we'll end it there. It's okay if I didn't find a dress, I'll go look for one elsewhere another time. So you wait outside until I return, okay? I'll be fast."

"No, wait!" He seized her wrist before she could go back to change. When he saw her surprised (and a bit blushing) face, he released her. "I want Mogami-san to find a dress here, but let's continue after a small break." He paused, then, after having taken a good look at her, spoke again. "I think you need one, too. You didn't stop changing since we arrived, and you seem a bit tired. Let's have a drink outside, shall we?"

"Yes, that sounds good. I'll get changed and I'll join you outside." Kyouko smiled, relieved that he wasn't angry. Besides, he seemed to care about her health too. 'What a good sempai I have!' she thought, before returning the dress to the shop assistant.

They went to a small café near the store, where Ren treated her to some tea, and took a black coffee for himself. There, they relaxed a little, chatting about the party, and how Kyouko felt about the whole dancing thing.

"So I take it you don't like dancing?" asked Ren, a bit amused by the concerned look on Kyouko's face.

"That's not it! I just don't want to dance with men I don't even know... I have the feeling this will be very awkward. I don't trust men for that sort of activity." She had said that with such a serious expression that Ren couldn't help but tease her a little.

"If I were to invite you to a dance, you wouldn't trust me either?"

"W-Well, that's different. I know you." After a while, she added: "I guess it would be okay with Yashiro-san and Sawara-san, but I wonder if they would like to dance..."

'Probably not' Ren thought, while trying to imagine Yashiro wearing a tuxedo and asking a girl for a dance. Somehow, this didn't fit the image he had of the man. He turned his attention back to Kyouko, who was watching him closely, her chin resting in her hand.

"Do I have something on my face, Mogami-san?" Ren returned her her stare, only with a bit more intensity. Kyouko jolted out of her dreamy state and blushed.

"N-No, no, sorry, I was being impolite, staring at you like that. I was just wondering what you had in mind, because you showed a very amused face."

"It was nothing. Just try and imagine Yashiro-san dancing."

* * *

She was still trying to do so when they returned to the shop.

Once the dress was put on, Kyouko walked out of the fitting room, feeling that if this one was no good, she would give up and not go to the party. After all, it wasn't _really_ a mission.

"Tsuruga-san, I think this is the last one I'm trying on. What do you think about it?"

Ren looked up, only to stare at her with awe. The dress was quite simple for once. It was a very fair shade of pink, and made of silk. Small straps were maintaining it by the shoulders, and it went down to her feet without a wrinkle. The sleeves were almost non existent, but for a thin strip of pink gauze attached on each shoulder to the straps. It was sewed enough to cover the rest of her shoulders, and then it followed her body down to her hips. Some pink gauze was also tied to her neck like a long and thin scarf. She was wearing pink sandals too, with a bit of heel.

The dress made her look more slender, and her skin seemed fairer. Ren stood up. To him, it was like a beautiful fairy had appeared in front of him. She looked so fragile... He resisted the urge to hold her in his arms, and forced himself to talk.

"I think you won't need to try anything else. This dress fits you perfectly. You are beautiful, Mogami-san." He bit his tongue. He shouldn't have said the last part.

Kyouko turned a deep shade of red, and that only made her look cuter to Ren.

"T-Thank you, Tsuruga-san. I guess I'll go change back into my clothes, then."

When she turned around, Ren sat heavily on his chair, his head buried in his arms. How was he supposed to restrain himself when she looked so desirable? And moreover, how would he stop himself from punching any guy that would come too close to her at the party? That was going to be a tough day...

* * *

To Kyouko, the week seemed to fly by at such a speed that before she knew it, it was already party time!

She had agreed to meet with Kanae at 7:00pm at the entrance of the President's residence. Her friend had forced her to use her beautiful make-up, so she was standing there, with translucent lip-stick, and fairly pink eye-shadowing. She wore no mascara nor eye-liner, so her face looked very pale (not an ill-kind of pale). Kanae showed up a few minutes later, wearing a navy dress, with only laces covering her back. The dress (just like the one Kyouko had tried on at the store), was slit from half her tights to her feet, and a white thin belt with small silver hearts all over it was adjusted at her hips.

"Whoa, Moko-chan! You look so good in that dress! But..." Kyouko pouted, "you never wanted to show it to me, while I showed you mine!"

Kanae glared at her friend. "That's because I don't like it. Those little hearts... Argh! I can't believe I'm wearing this!" If the President had let her say something, she would have definitely not come, neither would she have chosen this outfit for herself. That was ridiculous!

"Let's go in before I change my mind."

"Yeah, right." 'As if you could' added Kyouko to herself. After she had first refused to go, the President had threatened them to make them do very lowly Love Me tasks if they had refused to come.

The reception hall was, as usual, marked by the President's tastes. Kanae wasn't sure she could handle all the pink heart-shaped settings. Obviously, the President's purpose was to set a lovely mood between the guests. Hopefully, no one would notice her if she hid behind the décor.

That was without counting on the President's stubbornness. While they were reaching the middle of the hall (they had to cross the room to present their respect to their employer), a spotlight suddenly blinded them, and silence fell upon the guests. Then, the President's voice rose:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce two member of my most beloved section, the Love Me girls Kotonami Kanae and Mogami Kyouko! They are today's first-rate guests, and I hope you'll enjoy your time spent with those very talented girls. They are opened to any dancing invitation, as a representative of Love should be. Now, let's start the Ball!"

The light vanished, and people began to talk again. Kyouko and Kanae were still frozen, unable to move because of embarrassment. How could he do that, they thought in unison, now they would be the talk of the party. In a very, very bad way.

While Kanae was still fuming over the President's speech, Kyouko met Ren's eyes, and she freaked out. He was mad, and she didn't know why his anger was directed at her (no doubt about that, though). She quickly took Kanae's arm and went to greet the President. That done, Kanae went to a very small and dark corner of the room, and began brooding.

Kyouko didn't get the chance to imitate her, because someone pulled her arm. She knew who it was. This killing aura couldn't belong to anyone else.

"Mogami-san, may I ask you for a dance?" Yes, it was Ren, with his brightest fake smile on. Kyouko cowered in fear.

"Y-Yes, of course..." He took her hand in his and led them to the dance-floor. He then put his arm around her waist and began to follow the music. The President had opted for a western type of ball and had made sure every LME member that was invited took dancing lessons for that.

Kyouko were trying her best not to make any mistakes, so she didn't see the change in Ren's expression. His eyes were softer, and a true genuine smile was forming on his lips. Which didn't escape to Lory, who was observing them, of course. After all, the purpose of this party was almost only to help them get closer.

"Tsuruga-san, are you angry at me?" Kyouko finally felt at ease with her dancing steps, so she tried to start a conversation.

"Why do you think I am angry at you?" Ren answered, a tone of surprise in his voice, while he was thinking, 'how did she know I was angry?'

Kyouko dared to look up. He didn't wear his bright fake smile any more, she felt relieved.

"Well, it's because you have this weird fake smile each time I anger you, so I thought... Well... Um, maybe I was wrong?" She just knew she should have shut up. Why try to give him ammunition? Now she had certainly angered him.

Ren decided to be frank, for once (or at least, partly). "I may have been angry, yes, but why would you assume that you're the one who did it?"

"You were looking at me when you showed your demoni- I mean, your fake smile." That sounded like an accusation. Ren chuckled.

"Pure coincidence. Mogami-san, you're a bit too full of yourself, I'm not thinking about you all the time, you know." 'Liar' cried his conscience. Nonetheless, he made a mental note to be very careful with his expressions and where his eyes wandered, while Kyouko, red of embarrassment, was trying to apologize and at the same time deny she ever thought that.

The music ended, and some shy man asked Kyouko for the next dance. When he saw Ren's glare, however, he took a step back. Remembering she had to accept every single invitation, Kyouko left Ren's side and, with a word of thanks to him, she took the other man's hand and started to dance. It was there that Ren fought one of his biggest battles for self-control. Hopefully (or not, it depends on how you see it), he won, and he sat in a chair nearby praying to God that next time he would be fast enough to be the first one to invite her. However, a bunch of fan girls kept getting in his way, and he could only get close enough to Kyouko after four other dances. When he saw that another guy was approaching her, he tried to turn her attention to him instead.

"Mogami-san!" Seeing who had called her, the other man backed away, a frown on his face. Kyouko had jumped when she heard her name being shouted in front of so many people. When Ren joined her, she began to lecture him.

"Tsuruga-san, that was embarrassing, you know? Why did you have to shout like that? Couldn't you simply wait to be closer to call me?"

That was a tough one. How could he escape her scolding this time? Apparently, she was thinking that too, judging by her face. Had she taken a liking to giving him lessons since the day he had kissed her on the cheek without her consent?

"You were going to bump into someone, so it's basically your fault if I had to prevent that by shouting your name." 'Nice one', he thought, that way the blame was on her (hey, he's a child sometimes too), and his true motives were still hidden.

"Oh." She had really looked like she wanted to scold him, but he stole her chance to do so. Was she pouting now? Ren thought so, because she was frowning and didn't look at him any more.

"May I ask you for a dance for the rest of the party?"

Kyouko thought she didn't hear correctly. "What did you say?" She asked, bewildered.

Ren looked at her in a serious way, and explained himself. "I asked you if you would like to be my dancing partner for the whole evening." Seeing she still didn't understand, he sighed. "Look, you told me you didn't like the idea of dancing with someone you didn't know anything about, right?" She agreed to that. 'Good', he thought 'now let's go on with the false explanation'. "And you

told me it wouldn't bother you to dance with me, because you know me." 'To which point, I wonder...' Ren tried not to lose himself in his own thoughts, wanting to get through with this. "So why not let me be your partner? I'm sure the President wouldn't mind as long as you dance with someone." About that one at least he was certain. Since they had started talking, Lory kept his eyes on them, a smile on his lips.

"But Tsuruga-san, you won't be able to enjoy the party if you only stay by my side, will you?" She was watching him with doubtful eyes. Ren sighed.

"You won't get it until I say it, will you? It's for your sake. If we are together, no one will bother you, and you will still get points in the end."

"Yeah, I understand that." She then muttered under her breath "but what good does it do you? You won't be nice to me unless there is something you want from me..."

"I heard that." Ren chuckled as Kyouko reddened from embarrassment. "And I'll tell you, you may be right this time." She instantly wore a 'I thought so' kind of expression. Still laughing, he pursued. "You and I can help each other. I'll keep the guys away from you, and in exchange, you'll keep the girls away from me. Does that satisfy you?"

"Well, yes, but there is something weird in what you are saying. Why would you want to get away from the girls? Aren't you supposed to be a playboy?"

"What, you are still saying that even after I told you I wasn't?" The conversation was taking a surprising turn. Ren was now facing Kyouko, his arms crossed, and a stubborn expression on his face. His kouhai looked like she was challenging him.

"As if I'd believe you! You womanizer!"

"What an uncute kouhai I have! To call me names..."

"W-What?! You are the one who always picks on me."

"Well, you don't need me to do that: I know that you're scolding yourself with a doll that looks like me." At this, Kyouko whitened.

"Y-You knew?!"

"Of course I do, you weren't especially cautious, were you?"

"W-Well, that was to help me in various situations where I needed to be scolded."

"See? That's what I usually do."

"Uh?" Kyouko paused, thinking about it for a minute. Oh yeah, that _was_ right. Ren was a good sempai. She had just forgotten about that when she had heated up in the conversation. Then, that meant she had been very disrespectful towards him. She bent down.

"Y-You're right! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. But it's your fault too! You _are_ teasing me sometimes, I know that." She had raised her head again, her eyes almost pouting.

Ren chuckled. "You're a weird one."

"What! That's not a nice thing to say!" 'And here she goes again with the angry style' he thought, having fun teasing her, as she said.

"But you know," said Ren, a bit more serious this time, "it's fun to hang out with you. I like it." And now she was blushing! How many feelings could he make her show in the short period they had together? That was question Ren would make sure to find the answer this evening.

"W-Well, it can't be helped, then. I'll let you tease me a little tonight, but only tonight!" Kyouko was evading his stare, a very bright red painted on her cheeks.

"You're not forcing yourself to say that, are you?" Ren was intrigued as to why she would accept his teasing.

"As long as you're having fun, I am, too." She then gave him a very warm, bright and cheerful smile. You know, the kind where he can't do anything but stare back with awe (and then use all of his willpower not to take her in his arms and kiss her). But he had to compose himself before he got caught.

"Alright, then. Shall we dance now?" He held his hand out to her.

"With pleasure." She accepted, putting her hand to his, still smiling (and blushing). As they went on the dance-floor, a voice suddenly shouted:

"CUT! This is perfect!" A old and a bit fat man had appeared in front of them, full of excitement.

"You two exactly fit in the main roles of my drama. You know who I am?" Ren and Kyouko shook their head negatively.

"Mah, I might as well introduce myself. Very pleased to meet you, I am Tachibana Kiba, the director of a drama called _The Day You Fell from the Sky_. I saw you two discussing a while ago, and I'd really like you to join my drama. Please, can you think about it and say yes?" The man was very energetic for an old person. And full of enthusiasm too.

Ren spoke up, uncertainty showing a bit in his voice.

"Hum, well, what kind of drama is this about?"

"Oh, it's a romance drama, of course! I think you'll play the main roles pretty well, from what I saw a moment ago."

There came the strike. Both Ren and Kyouko froze. What? A romance drama? With both of them as the main characters? What on earth was that?


	2. Chapter 2 : Enchanting script and

**Hi ! Well, since I haven't heard anything of my beta, I decided to stop waiting and go ahead posting my chapters. I'm half done with the 4th, so don't worry, now I'll update quickly. This chapter has been corrected by TohkoXKetsukei, I owe her big. Thank you very much, ****TohkoXKetsukei ! The real story begins in chapter 3, but I had fun writing this one here. I promise I'll do my best with my language ! Oh, and I don't take into account Setsu and Cain's arc.  
**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Skip Beat ! Yoshiki Nakamura-sensei does. But The Day You Fell from the Sky is mine ! (Okay, I'm enjoying writing about the drama as much as about Kyouko and Ren, but oh well...)  
**

Chapter 2 : _**Enchanting script and dangerous confessions**_

Kyouko read throughout the script again.

The story was about a depressed man who's had enough with his crappy life. He was brilliant at work, always being praised by his boss, but no matter how hard he tried to have a social life, he always ended up looking like a workaholic, and that drove people away from him. Being humorless didn't help either. And maybe this gloomy face of his wasn't much attractive, too. Not that he wasn't good-looking, but he never smiled, and his unhappiness showed far too much for people to notice his nice figure. From his co-workers' point of view, he was too reserved to hang out with, never talked about anything besides work, and couldn't tell a joke. To sum it up, he sucked. So even though people respected him very much, no one was interested in being close to him. One day, he decided that he had enough of it. He was determined to put an end to his life, when the unbelievable happened.

Kyouko found the scene when the two protagonists first met. It began with Ryu (the depressed man) standing on a bridge past the security barrier, and was about to let himself fall into the river below. Then, something big hit him hard on the stomach, sending him flying to the safe side of the bridge. After a few seconds to recollect his thoughts (and swear at the pain he experienced), he slowly opened his eyes, and froze, bewildered. They had fallen upon the most beautiful pair of eyes he'd ever seen. Those eyes, which were the color of Forget-me-nots, were looking straight back into his own, diving into his very soul. Surprise filled them, along with something he couldn't place. Ryu couldn't help but stare back, hypnotized by this gaze.

The charm broke when the owner of those eyes started talking. Or rather, squirming while making strangled noises. It suddenly got up, leaving a too-shocked-to-move Ryu on the ground. It was only then that he noticed that it was actually a human being that had crashed into him. Or was it really?

Whatever it was, it was obviously female. She had anything a human being would have: legs, arms, hair... But her ears were those of elves, her skin was so fair it looked like she didn't have red blood in her veins, and she was a bit smaller than the average woman. Not to mention that she was floating about two feet from the ground, thanks to translucent thin wings that seemed to come from her back. Ryu paused. Wait, what? Floating? Wings? He pinched himself, just in case he was dreaming. When he felt the pain, he thought that maybe he died without even noticing it. To be sure, he asked the only thing that could make sense to him.

"Are you an angel collecting the souls of dead people?" The whatever-it-was girl looked at him with angered eyes.

"Me? An angel? Are you kidding me?! Don't you recognize a fairy when you see one? And what's this crap about dead people ? You're a stupid human living on a stupid planet called Earth! Mah, why did I even end up here?"

This sudden burst of anger made Ryu speechless. Weren't fairies supposed to be charming creatures, full of kindness and all? This girl had a badmouth, and seemed to have a bad temper, too. Hell, she was destroying his child memories of fairy tales! There was no way she was a fairy.

"You're not a fairy." He pouted, surprising them both. Ryu never pouted, so what was he doing right now?

"Oh, and what would a mere human like you know about fairies?" It seemed he had angered her even more.

"Well, for one thing, fairies are kind, good-tempered, and can help people by granting wishes."

"For your information, there's nothing like wish-granting, and I am kind and good-tempered. The proof is, didn't I help you when you were about to fall off the bridge?"

The way she had said that aroused Ryu's suspicion. He had spent years observing people from afar, and he could just tell she was lying.

"That's not true. It felt more like you _fell_ on me rather than rescued me. Beside, you looked very surprised when you found out where you had landed." She looked like she was about to protest so he pursued : "And what made you think I needed help?"

That last line shut her up. She glared at him with such contempt that he thought that maybe it wasn't a smart thing to admit he was about to commit suicide.

"What... the hell... were you-"

"Mogami-san!"

Kyouko jolted out in surprise, and the script she was reading fell on the floor. She turned her head to Tsuruga Ren, who had taken her out of her reverie (not only had she been reading the script, but her mind had played the scene, thus putting her into a daze).

"Ah, good day to you, Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san."

"Good day to you too, Mogami-san."

"Hello, Kyouko-chan ! Is that the script of _The Day You Fell from the Sky_," asked Yashiro, while collecting said script from the floor,"Are you accepting the role, then?"

Kyouko blushed. "Well...um... I'm still thinking about it, actually."

"That's very unlike you, Mogami-san, not to accept to play a fairy right away. Besides, it's a lead role." Ren was looking at her with such piercing eyes that she felt she had to apologize and explain everything right on the spot, or else she was sure it would lead to a misunderstanding.

"Yes, but... mm... you know, I might not be very suited for this role. It's a romance drama, you see, and although I'd love to act as a beautiful fairy, I don't think I'm prepared enough to play a beautiful fairy _in love._" She was fidgeting, ready to receive the scolding her sempai wouldn't miss to give her for lacking professionalism. _"Is that so, Mogami-kun? So__,__ although the President went to all the trouble of creating a Love Me section especially to help you out, you still can't get a grasp of the feeling, eh? You're very disappointing, Mogami-kun, I don't want such a talentless girl to be my kouhai."_

"Noooooooooooo! Please, wait! I want to do this role, so I'm still working on my love-lacking problem, so please, don't be disappointed yet!" She had suddenly crawled at Ren's feet, almost crying in despair.

"Mogami-san? Are you alright? Did you even listen to what I was saying?"

"Uh?" She raised her head toward Ren, who was looking at her with surprised eyes. Little did he know that she had let her imagination run away and had started to scold herself the way she thought he would scold her. Ren sighed. Really, what kind of vision did this girl have of him?

"I was telling you that if you really want to do this role, you should put everything you have into it. I'm sure you'll overcome your difficulties. After all, it's not like you've never fallen in love, right?"

She looked at him with desperate eyes. "Y-Yes, but..."

"Then it's alright. You only have to focus on your feelings then, and not on the boy you were in love with."

At the mention of her former crush, the atmosphere around Kyouko became a lot heavier. 'Shotaroooo... I'm going to kill you, you wait and see!' As she kept on mumbling, Ren's face fell into that of a gentleman, flashing a dangerous smile. Kyouko's sensors perked up, and went flying to Ren's side to bathe into his angry aura.

"Mogami-san?" Seeing the gentleman's smile, Kyouko cowered in fear. What had she done this time?

"You spaced out again."

"Ah! I'm very sorry!" She bowed furiously, hoping that if she apologized, Ren would stop with the false smile. It worked, at last, and Kyouko could relax a little.

"Ren, we have to go now." Yashiro said, looking at the clock on the wall of the corridor they were in.

"Ah, yes. I hope to see you on the set, then, Mogami-san."

"H-Hai! I'll look forward to it, Tsuruga-san!" And with that said, the two men went on their way, leaving a smiling Kyouko behind. Then she twitched. Wait. Didn't she just agree to co-star with Tsuruga Ren there? Her face fell. Now she really had to play the role. She sighed, when another thought stuck her: she was going to play opposite HIM... and what's more, as a girl in love with HIM?! Then... she may end up being manipulated by his act again! Even worse, wasn't he called a co-star killer? What if she fell into his trap and really fell in love ? Kyouko cried in despair.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

At that time, all the LME workers felt a chill of fear going down their spines, for this shriek really was frightening.

…................................................................................................................................................

"Is that really alright, Ren?" Yashiro eyed him worriedly. Well, that was a reaction that was to be expected since he had taken the role that would probably send him to hell. As his manager, Yashiro had to make sure Ren would be able to handle playing opposite the – oh so hopeless about love – girl he loved.

"I already told you, I'll manage." That was what he kept telling himself since he accepted the job. Out of masochism, for sure. He hadn't really been thinking when he agreed to do the role. His heart simply saw a chance to get across this blunt barrier of Kyouko's and make himself some room in her own heart, even if it was an act. He knew once she'd overcome her weakness that she would immerse herself into the character, and then, she would love him back with all her might. It was such a torture to know it would only be for the play. Once she would stop acting, she'd stop loving him too. That was where he thought he was going to have a hard time. How was he supposed to suppress his feelings after showing them to her and seeing her respond positively to them? The line between the acting world and reality would be like the razor blade he'd have to walk on.

"I'm more worried about how Mogami-san will overcome her own weaknesses. She is quite impermeable to the feeling of love."

"And especially to yours..."

"What was that?" Ren hadn't caught his manager's comment.

"N-Nothing ! Let's concentrate on work, shall we ?" Yashiro knew he sucked at changing conversation subtly.

Meanwhile, said Kyouko was still feeling depressed, and her very gloomy mood scared every single person she passed by on her way home.

…...................................................................................................................................................

"Moko-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kanae froze. There it was. The thing with the extremely eye-catching and ugly pink uniform aimed straight for her, wailing.

"W-What is going on?! And stop clinging onto me, it's disgusting!"

"But I haven't seen you ever since the beginning of that party last week!"

'And whose fault do you think it is, you moron!' Kanae didn't voice this thought, knowing it would be quite unfair to reproach Kyouko that she had been left alone (except for the bunch of guys she had had to bear with, since it was her duty as a Love Me member), because it was Ren Tsuruga who had taken her away from Kanae. And then, they had been assaulted by this weird producer or whatever he was, and he had kept on clinging to them until they had heard all he had to say. Apparently, he had a lot to say too, because it took them the rest of the party to listen to him.

"So", Kanae started, clearing her throat, chasing away the reproach she had on the tip of her tongue, "Why are you crying?" Kyouko was looking at her with such pitiful and watery eyes that she couldn't resist the urge to ask her what was wrong.

"Moko-chan, I am sooo dead... I accepted a job without thinking again, and I don't have what it takes to do it!"

"Then just drop out of it."

"I can't do that!" Kanae stared at her friend in surprise. How come she couldn't quit a job she wasn't fit for?

"Why is that?" Kyouko started fidgeting like a high school girl caught red-handed.

"W-Well, you see, I wasn't intending to accept it, but then, Tsuruga-san came, and then..."

Several hours later, the two girls were sitting in front of a big cup of ice cream, still discussing the matter.

"Don't you think you're overreacting here?" said Kanae, looking with disgust at the mountain of calories that she was eating, just for the sake of her friend. Goodbye, diet...

"I swear I'm not. He is frightening when he's angry... And somehow, I'm usually the one he turns this anger to. Oh, he is so going to kill me this time!" While Kyouko began crying again, Kanae was trying to sum the whole situation up.

"Let's repeat it once again. You were asked to play the role of a fairy that falls in love with a man, and you say you can't do it because: 1, you cannot feel love anymore, which will make it impossible for you to get in character; 2, the one you are acting with is Tsuruga Ren, the so-called co-star killer. You've played against him before, and you ended up being manipulated. What's more, you lost control over your own emotions on a particular occasion, and that scares you to death. You knew all that, and yet, you were tricked into accepting the job–what I don't get is did you do it yourself or was that his plan? Now, you're afraid to back off, because you are certain that he will torture and kill you if you do. Am I right?"

Kyouko stared at her friend, slowly nodding. When summed up like that, it seemed much more terrifying to her. Kanae almost glared at her.

"You know what? You're a complete freak. And a dense one, too"

"Eh? Why are you saying that, Moko-san?" Kyouko was startled by this sudden comment. Kanae sighed, and continued:

"I don't understand why Tsuruga Ren keeps trying. It's a lost battle after all." Kyouko pouted.

"Moko-san, you're confusing me even more. What are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. What does is, since you think you can't back off, then you have no choice but to give it your all." 'And I'm sure you'll succeed too', Kanae added silently. After all, she, more than other people, knew how terrific this girl could be when she was getting serious.

"But how can I act out a girl in love when I can't love anymore? There won't be any depth to my character, and I'll be kicked out of the staff, and Tsuruga-san will be even more angry at me!"

Kanae thought about it, and then she started talking again. 'You own me one, Tsuruga-san', she thought, before looking at the source of the headache that she was beginning to feel.

"There is a way to overcome this problem." Kyouko stared at her with big, surprised eyes, along with something like super-hyper hope in them. It made Kanae think like she was the hand of salvation. "You have to convince Tsuruga-san to give you extra lessons about love. That way, both of you can rehearse your love scenes as much as you want, and synchronize your acting." 'And maybe you will understand his feelings...'

"B-But, I will be a bother to him !" And here she was again, fearing something that was unlikely to happen. Kanae really pitied Ren sometimes.

"Believe me, you won't. Look, remember the hard time he had with Katsuki? You told me he asked you to help him rehearse. Now it's the other way around, I'm sure he'll gladly return the favor." As she said that, she saw Ren getting out of his car (they were in a shop that was across the entrance of LME's parking lot). "Here's your chance, Kyouko." She pushed her friend out of the shop and nearly put her under Ren's tires.

"Good afternoon, Tsuruga-san", she said, dragging poor Kyouko along. "I have a favor to ask. Do you mind if this girl tags along with you for the rest of the day? I think she needs to see how a professional actor does his job."

That was not a polite way to ask for favors, and Ren wondered why she was glaring at him, almost like she was reluctant to leave Kyouko in his hands. Well, he had always felt an atmosphere of competition near her when it came to Kyouko. Maybe with all he'd done to the girl, Kanae was aware of his intentions and didn't want to hand her over to him? But, why was it that she was willing to give them time together now but had tried to interfere as much as she could before?

"H-Hum, I don't want to impose on you, Tsuruga-san, really, it's okay if you don't..." Kyouko stopped talking when she saw the beautiful smile on Ren's face.

"You are not bothering me, Mogami-san. Your friend had a good idea there, I'd like to spend the rest of the afternoon with you. My schedule is not that packed today, so maybe we'll be able to go out after my work, if you are free, of course."

"I-I am free, and I would be glad to spend some time with my sempai! Thank you very much, Tsuruga-san!"

Kanae was dumbfounded. This man was no joke! He just asked the girl he loved out in front of other people, and without any shame! What was more astounding, said girl agreed to it, while shooting him down with the 'sempai-kouhai' relationship! Both of them were now talking casually, as if nothing weird had happened. Was that even possible? After quick thinking, maybe the guy was used to being turned down, and to Kyouko's oblivious mind, nothing was out of the ordinary. Feeling pity for the man, Kanae parted with them and went back to LME's agency, to check out the new jobs she had been offered.

"So, what is your next job, Tsuruga-san ?" Kyouko was now sitting in Ren's car, her eyes on the scenery that was unfolding at an amazing speed by the window.

"I still have a few shoots to take, and then I'm done for the day. That's why Yashiro stayed behind today. Since my schedule is lighter now that Dark Moon is over, he is trying to pick up jobs that will fit in it."

"I hope you don't plan on working so hard that you won't be able to take care of yourself properly!" Ren glanced at Kyouko, who was eying him suspiciously.

"Of course not, Mogami-san. I've learned my lesson last time." He was still amazed at how his body had betrayed him by becoming sick, and he would remember her sermon until the day he'd die.

"I'm not convinced by that. I bet you didn't intend to eat real food tonight, since it won't be prepared by the staff because you'll leave work early today." Ren let out a surprised expression before quickly recomposing his face.

"That's only you assuming things here."

"No, I'm not. I saw your surprised look. You are probably planning on eating just onigiri from the supermarket again." When she didn't get any response back, Kyouko sighed. "Moh, Tsuruga-san, you really have to take better care of yourself!"

"Look who's talking. You know that if you're going to do every single thing with all your might, you'll end up being more exhausted than I will."

"What! What's wrong with giving everything my all? It's not as wrong as going around kissing people whenever I feel like it!"

"Wha-...! I do not go around kissing people!"

"You do!"

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!"

"No, I don't!"

When they arrived at destination, both of them showed an annoyed face. They had kept arguing until their throats went hoarse, and now they were both being scolded by Yashiro who had arrived later. He first had been very surprised to see them together, but after hearing them complaining about each other, he kept his hopes down. There was no way those two could give off a romantic feeling when being so childish.

After having dropped Yashiro home, Ren headed to the grocery store at Kyouko's demand. In a very heated moment during their argument, she had requested of him that he'd show her his cooking skills, believing he had none. Which was, to Ren's hurt pride, utterly right. 'Damn, how did I end up doing this silly thing,' He thought, cursing under his breath. Cooking just wasn't his hobby. Well, if he were to be honest, he'd say that he had this in horror. Why bother when you could go to restaurants or buy some already made stuff?

Of course, that was precisely why Kyouko had brought up this stupid (and rather imperative) request. When he told her about his way of thinking, she had been so angry that he hadn't been able to say no. She had kept on ranting until he admitted defeat. She then asked him to go buy ingredients (she gave him a paper with the name, quantity and amount of money each of them should cost, just in case he wouldn't get it).

When he returned to his apartment, he headed straight for the kitchen, knowing she'd be waiting. And indeed, she was standing straighter than usual, a very determined look on her face, along with an apron waiting in her hands. Wait, what? Who was this apron fo-?

"Tsuruga-san, put this on, please." So that was the answer to his unfinished question.

"Mogami-san, I really don't think this is a good idea. I admit defeat, I'm no good when it comes to cooking. So if you could..." She smiled sweetly at him, which scared him. So she could put on the same kind of fake smiles as him, huh?

"But, Tsuruga-san, that is the whole purpose of tonight's session. Since you're the one who is always teaching me things, let me thank you by learning some basic cooking from me. Shall we get started, now ?" The weird gleam in her eyes stopped him from disagreeing with her. Without any more choice left, he wore the damn apron (actually a decent looking one, which was a navy blue color).

"So, what do you expect me to do, Mogami-sensei?" Ren flared her his best gentleman's smile.

Gulping, Kyouko gathered her courage and started the cooking lesson she wanted to give her sempai. That seemed weird to actually teach something to THE Ren Tsuruga. But somehow, she thought, this felt nice, seeing him concentrate and trying hard to follow her commands.

"Ah, wait, Tsuruga-san, don't do tha-...!"

"Ouch!" Ren drew his hand from the hot lid of the cooking pot. "How could this be so hot after so little time?"

"That's because there's really hot steam right under the lid! Actually, I don't think that you got burned because of the lid but because of the steam itself. Come now, let's get some cool water to soothe the pain away." She took his hand while talking, and put it under the cold water. She made him stay still for what seemed like hours to him before she agreed to let his hand go. That incident had put him under a lot of pressure, being forced to let her invade his personal space for such a long time without doing anything. When she finally released him, she immediately turned her back to him and started to walk away.

'That won't do', he thought, and before he could stop himself, he had put his arms around her and pulled her back to him, his head resting on her shoulder.

"T-Tsuruga-san?"

"Hm?" If he had looked at her face, he would have seen the panicked expression she wore.

"W-What a-are you doing?" She was so stiff against him, he knew this wasn't going to last long before she gathered enough courage to free herself from his embrace. Reluctantly, he let her go before he had the chance to do something more daring to her.

She faced him, fear written all over her face. Her heart was racing like crazy, and she felt a bit dizzy. Even if she had been embraced from behind, she had still been able to smell his fragrance.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Looks like I did it again." Ren smiled apologetically at her.

"D-Did what again?" The suspicion in Kyouko's voice was clearly audible. Ren sighed.

"Showing my gratitude the way a non-Japanese person would."

Kyouko looked scandalized. "What! Even though I had already warned you? Mouh, Tsuruga-san, you don't seem to know which consequences your behavior could lead to, do you?"

At that, Ren looked up, a bit curious. Of course, he was expecting a scolding for what he did, but what was that thing about consequences?

"What kind of consequences would my behavior lead to?"

Kyouko crossed her arms and, turning her head toward the wall, decided to explain a certain thing to that man completely oblivious of his charm.

"Well, for a start, you're always unconsciously says things that could make a woman's heart melt. I believed you when you said you weren't a playboy, so it seems that's the only explanation left I could come up with. You compliment them, use straightforward words they would have never dreamed to hear from such a good-looking man, and what's more, you do it in such a natural way that they can do nothing but fall head over heels with you! It's the same with your actions! Look at the things you did to me, for example. You give me such a warm and genuine smile sometimes that if it was any other woman, they would fall in love with you straight away. Imagine what harm you would have done to their heart if you had kissed them like you did me? And now, there's this warm embrace! Surely, you know that a man's warmth and fragrance can put a woman into a daze, right? Even I, though I am now immune to all those sorts of things, couldn't help but have my heart race and feel a bit dizzy. There. It sure was an embarrassing thing to say, but I had to warn you of the impact you can unconsciously have on defenseless women." Kyouko was beet red from her confession, but she had turned her gaze back to him and he could see the determined look on her eyes.

Ren was shocked, to say the least. "That's... something no one has ever told me in my whole life..." Was all he could say. She had shaken him in a way he wasn't expecting her to. But suddenly, a glint appeared in his eyes, and he began to turn his face to the Emperor of the Night's.

"Well, if we are going to speak about confidences, I might as well..."

Kyouko felt a chill going down her spine as she witnessed Ren's transformation. There it was, this incomparably frightening aura of his...!

* * *

**Okay, so here is a little cliffie... I promise the next chapter will be out very soon (within the next week, I think). Mind telling me what you think about that ? I love constructive criticisms, so don't worry about being harsh on me. I want to improve my writing, so advices are my food. So please, help me become better by reviewing !**


	3. Chapter 3 : When the time comes to shine

**Hi all !**

**I'm back with another chapter, I hope you'll like it. This time no one has helped me with my English, so I hope it's bearable. I'm very surprised (and happy) at the number of people who put this story on their alert/fav lists. 29 persons chose to put my fic on their alert list ! I'm glad they think it's worth their time. I'd love those persons to comment this story so that I know what they really think about it, but it still makes me happy to know they read it ^^. Anyway, here is chapter 3, the one I loved most when I wrote it. It was fun writing it !**

**EDIT : I forgot the disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat !  
**

_Chapter 3 : **When the time comes to shine**_

"Y-You might what ?" Asked a frightened Kyouko. It was never a good sign when he became the Emperor of the Night.

"I might tell you about a few things you should look out for, as well. Like, about how it is dangerous to suggest you are immune to the things I might do to you." He had said that in such a husky voice that Kyouko had to gulp a few times before being able to speak again.

'What, is he going to torture me ?' She thought, afraid that he might chop her down into pieces, then cook her into the very pot he burnt himself with earlier. "W-What do you mean, the t-things you might do to me ?"

Ren suddenly flashed her a smile that got her completely paralyzed. Wait... Didn't this remember her of a previous situation ? But they were acting at this time. She was playing Mizuki, while her teacher, Katsuki, was being acted by Ren. He had toyed with her the same way he was now. Did he mean that it was dangerous to stay alone at a man's place, then ? But she had done it a couple of times, already, so why was it now a dangerous thing to do ?

"B-But, Tsuruga-san, I'm here for a certain reason, you know ? It's not like I'm going alone to a man's house for nothing !"

Ren stared at her in surprise. So she did get a hint of the things he could do to her ? That was something he hadn't expected, and it ruined his fun. "I get it. So, unless you're here to lecture me about the way I'm dealing with women, - which, by the way, I find a bit too exaggerated in your speech -, maybe we could go back to the main reason why you're here ? That is, of course, if you don't have any hidden motive behind it."

"...!"

The shock on her face was priceless, Ren thought. Well, she did deserve a small punishment for scolding her sempai on this matter. He chuckled as she yelled at him for suggesting some irresponsible (and immoral) things. The evening passed by, and it wasn't until Ren was driving her back home that the topic of the drama they were in arose.

"So, Mogami-sensei, are you as confident in your role as in your cooking skills ?"

Kyouko froze. Where did that question come from ? They were fine a minute ago, talking about some good and simple recipes she had taught him, so why was the topic directed toward such a sensible subject ?

"Mogami-san ?" Ren looked briefly at her, wondering what was taking her so long to respond.

"W-Well..." She started, fidgeting her fingers in what seemed a painful way. "This and that are a different story. I, hum, I may have some difficulties building up my character."

"Why, I thought you loved fairy tales, so you should be able to picture a fairy, shouldn't you ?" Ren was a bit surprised when he saw her blushing. He heard her mumbling something.

"What was that ?"

Kyouko took a deep breath and repeated what she had said, aloud this time : "It's not with the fairy part that I'm having difficulties. It's... It's with the romantic one." She looked at him with such desperate eyes that he had to muster all his willpower to bring his attention back to the road so he wouldn't send them to paradise too soon. Well, he felt he would go to hell within a few weeks because of the drama, but that wasn't a reason to kill himself beforehand. At least, let him go to hell when he had done something worth it, like kissing her for example, and not for some stupid car accident. His thoughts back on track, he continued the conversation :

"I see. You still haven't recovered the feeling, huh..."

The coldness in his voice reminded Kyouko of her previous imagination of his reaction when he'd learn that even though she had been in the Love Me section, she hadn't improved at all.

"I'm really hopeless, aren't I ? Not being able to express such a simple feeling." She looked down at her lap, hands clipped together, waiting for the scolding.

"A simple feeling, really ? I don't think it's that simple, otherwise it wouldn't be so hard to deal with it." His eyes softened, as a pained expression slowly appeared on his face.

Kyouko immediately regretted her words. She knew he was having a hard time with the girl he loved and yet, she made such a comment !

"E-Er,... I didn't... I mean... I didn't mean to say it was a simple feeling to deal with ! But surely, love is something people should treasure. Don't you think so ?" 'I don't', she thought. Her smile looked fake, and soon it was nothing more than an apologetic grimace. She dropped it then. "Yeah, as if." She couldn't tell him those words, it sounded too fake, even to her own ears.

"You sure feel bitter about this. Isn't there any way for you to see it under another light ? Will it always make you remember about that Fuwa guy ?" Kyouko shot her head up in surprise. Was that her, or Ren's voice seemed almost... almost _pleading_ ?

"Tsuruga...-san ?" He didn't dare to look at her, for his face kept slipping. He hadn't succeeded in shutting his damn mouth, too ! He had let this supplication pass his lips, and he had no way out of it, now ! Or had he ?

Ren stopped the car since they had reached their destination. He then turned to her with the most composed face he could muster :

"Mogami-san."

"Yes, Tsuruga-san ?" His sudden seriousness was making her uneasy.

"I'll be honest, I really like you. In a professional way, that is. I know you have the potential of a great actress, but this is tying you down. If you cannot perform in this drama, then I don't think you'll be able to achieve the great things you could do. You must absolutely feel the love that your character has for mine. If you don't, then it would be better if another actress had your role."

Kyouko couldn't help but gape at him. Did he really say he liked her as an actress ? So... She really wasn't hated by him as she had began to suspect ? But then again, he sure would be disappointed in her if she didn't overcome this. The question that remained was... How ? How would she get rid of this obstacle ?

Ren continued talking, wanting everything out.

"I think I can be of some help, here." 'If I can't revive your feelings of love, I can at least pretend to.'

"Your character is awaking to love in this drama. So it's not like she's experienced with this kind of things. That's all the better for you. She just has to fall in love with my character."

Hearing this, Kyouko froze. He couldn't... No, he wouldn't...

"T-Tsuruga-san... are you... a-are you implying that I should fall in love with you ?"

"Good Lord, no ! I wouldn't imply that ! No, what I meant was that if we play our characters on some training sessions, we could create such a vibe between them that expressing love shouldn't be that hard. The more they interact with each other, the easier it will become for you to display loving feelings. What do you think about it ?" Ren asked her, hoping she wouldn't see the hidden motives behind his proposition. For God's sake, he was only human, so how could he let such an opportunity pass ? He knew she wouldn't fall in love with him. But if he had the chance to woo her through acting, then no harm could be done, right ? He would try his best to make her feel his love, under the cover of his character. That way, even if it meant that after the drama ended, he would feel more pitiable than now, at least he would have tasted some happiness without feeling guilty. She couldn't be his, but her character had to, so why not use this chance ?

"I-I think that it's a rather good idea... Actually, I had wanted to ask you the same thing, but I was afraid of being a bother to you. Are you sure that I won't be imposing on you ? After all, this is all for my sake." Kyouko was so embarrassed that she couldn't look at him in the eyes. Was he really willing to go out of his way just to help her once again ?

"You won't, I promise. Besides, I wouldn't mind returning you the favor you did me with Katsuki. Without you, I think I would have been in a pinch back then." He smiled at her. That was a true, dazzling smile, the kind that had Kyouko's demons defeated in an instant. Their poor owner felt her strength leave her as his radiance hit her.

"W-Well, I guess it's settled then. When should I come over for our first practice session ?" She asked in a feeble voice.

Ren thought about it for a moment, then answered : "I'll let you know as soon as I get a hold of Yashiro-san. We should meet a day I finish work a bit early so that we won't have to practice too late in the night. I guess I'll see you around at work, then."

She opened the door as she nodded to him. Once outside the car, she bowed, thanking him for the ride and for his help with the drama.

That night, neither of them got to sleep much. One kept thinking that he was a real masochist to actually propose more occasions to be tortured, while the other was scared as hell of the reaction her body had had when Ren had hold her. She tried to convince herself that it was a normal reaction, that any woman would have felt that way in her place, because that was Tsuruga Ren, the co-star killer. That was attraction, not love. The first, she could handle, after all who could stop that kind of things ? The man had a damn sex-appeal, and unless she had lost all of her five senses, she couldn't fight against that. But as for love... That was an entire different story. She simply couldn't allow herself to fall in love again. Ever.

Kyouko sighed heavily. She'd have to be very careful in order to stay safe. She'd have to put down some of her defenses to be able to express her character's feelings, but she'd have to watch out for sneaky traps like body contacts. Those made it easy to mix up attraction and love. Still agitated, she dived into sleep. Needless to say, her dreams were filled with some angry, then smiling, then disgusted, then pained Tsuruga Ren.

…..........................................................................................................................................................

The next days passed without Kyouko really noticing. She was feeling like she was engulfed in something so big that she couldn't even guess what it was, and that scared her a bit. She felt pressured, and it was a relief to free herself from that by acting out Natsu, or playing a gentleman Bo. When she had met with Kanae, they had talked about her role so much that she had felt exhausted even without trying to act her part. That didn't stop her from noticing her friend's odd behavior, though. She had kept hinting some things at her, but Kyouko didn't know what she was getting at.

Finally, the day when they had planned to do their first training session came. Kyouko was waiting quietly at the entrance of the TBM building for Tsuruga Ren to pick her up. They would eat at some restaurant and then head to his apartment. For some reason, Kyouko wasn't very enthusiastic about the whole thing. She had a feeling things could turn out badly, although her doubts didn't have any ground. When they settled themselves in the living room, Kyouko opened her script, scanning through the first pages in order to remind her some details about the beginning of the two main characters' relationship. She then turned to her partner, who was waiting patiently for her to be ready.

"S-So... I guess we should start getting into character..." She proposed, rather uncertain as to how things would go from here.

"Sure. I'm supposed to be a very depressed man at the beginning, but you are the light that suddenly shine upon me, in a rather interesting way. So I think I'll start with getting intrigued by you, your being as well as your temper. That means that I have to observe you a lot, so you will do most of the acting for now, I'm afraid." Ren felt really relaxed, mostly because this time he had a good reason to be staring at her without her finding it weird.

"R-Right... Just give me a minute, then." Kyouko closed her eyes. She was a fairy. She could feel the energy flooding through things, and she always felt light because gravity didn't apply much to her. Sure, she had wings, but it was the way she interacted with the air that made her feel so light. Harmony was her home, and she was part of the nature. But she had fallen into the world of mankind from her own world, so she felt a bit lost. And down-right pissed.

Kyouko opened her eyes, and, after having glanced around her, glared at Ren.

"So, this is where you live ? That's creepy." She had said it with such contempt that Ren had to get a grip on himself before he'd burst out laughing. Quickly getting into his own character, he responded to her provocation in a half-hearted voice :

"Well, I admit it's a bit dark, but I'm not much into decoration." In the script, his apartment only had gray walls and a white cellar. Sure, his furnitures weren't of the same color, but one couldn't say that black, dark brown and beige were joyful colors if associated together.

"It's not only about the decoration... This place gives off a depressing vibe. It feels so... empty !" Kyouko had gotten up, and was pacing back and forth, her arms widely spread, as if she was trying to brass the air. She looked uneasy, as if the atmosphere was oppressing her. 'She's quite good', Ren thought. 'Let's see where we can get tonight.'

"Well, sorry for being a depressed man." He began to sulk, as if he was remembering his poor life. A bit taken aback by his empty expression, Kyouko decided to shake him a little.

"Humpf ! Since you are the first person I met when I arrived here, I'll stay with you until we find a way to send me back home. But I can't live here if things stay like this ! I guess I'll just have to cook something to liven up the atmosphere. I may not look like it, but I'm a great cook !"

Ren almost choked on his saliva when he heard her say that. For a moment, Kyouko thought he wasn't acting, but then he stared at her with big surprised eyes, a small glow appearing in them.

"Y-You what ? No, wait, what did you say ? You can't stay here ! I have been forced to believe you when you said you were a fairy from another world, but me accepting that fact doesn't mean I'm accepting you in my life ! I don't want a complete stranger, - who is not even human to begin with -, living with me for who-knows how long ! There's no way I would !"

There it was. Anger. For the first time in a very long time, he felt it again. He hadn't even realized that being angry could make him feel so alive ! He almost calmed down immediately, surprised to have used his voice with this kind of tone. It was as if he had rediscovered his vocal cords. He touched his neck, as if to verify they were physically here.

Kyouko gave him a mocking smile. "Why do you care ? Weren't you sick of this life already ? So why would it bother you if a complete non-human stranger barges into it ? You should continue living your poor life, and when you have enough, just go die already. There's too many humans in this world as it is." She put both her hands on her hips, waiting for a reply.

Ren made an incredulous look. "Hey, aren't you supposed to tell me not to die ? Aren't you supposed to be kind ?"

She snorted : "well, I am kind, since I'm not forcing you to live in a world that makes you feel like shit. But if you want to know how it is to really live, then I'd advise you to wait and see how many things you missed out until now. As a payment for living here, I'm willing to show you." Kyouko held out her hand, smiling.

Quite dumbfounded, Ren's character shook it without even realizing. This smile was just too dazzling for him (or them : Ren and Ryu were evenly affected by it).

They kept playing for a while, and Kyouko soon realized that this role was really easy to act. She felt pretty comfortable with it, though she didn't know why. She'd thought she'd have a hard time shaking the depressed character Ren was supposed to play, him being her senpai and all, but strangely, it felt natural. Sure, she sometimes fought with Ren, but she wasn't trying to pester him the way her character did. She shrugged. This was work. She knew he wouldn't hold a grudge against her, since he didn't when she had been really disrespectful as Kuon. She stopped thinking about that and concentrated on how she should act her character's knowledge about human food and cooking tools. She decided to go for the discovering level, so she made a huge mess just to cook them snacks (she had taken into consideration that they already had eaten). This made Ren laugh a lot. Of course, he kept it for himself, since his character was most likely to panic at the sight of such a storm in his kitchen.

…............................................................................................................................................................

"Moko-saaaan !"

'Damn', thought Kanae. 'Here she goes again with that lousy attitude of hers !' She prepared herself for the impact, but it never came. Kyouko had stopped a few inches away from her, and was bowing profusely.

"Thank you sooooooooo much ! Thanks to you, Tsuruga-san and I are able to train ourselves before the filming starts !"

A bit exasperated by her display of affection, Kanae sighed. "Well, that's good news. How was your first training session ?" At the remembrance of the previous night, Kyouko's eyes lit.

"It was great ! I had so much fun trying to cook something without knowing anything ! Although I must have worried Tsuruga-san at some point, because when I began to play with the hot kettle, he threw me out of the kitchen, saying he would do the cooking by himself. It's not like he can't cook anymore, too..."

Kanae looked at her friend wondering how far she would have gone if Ren hadn't stopped her. She could perfectly imagine the look of horror on his face when she had began to 'play' with the kettle. And that wouldn't have been acting, too.

Kyouko was still relating her evening when Sawara-san interrupted them, saying he had to borrow Kyouko for a while. Still smiling brightly, she parted with Kanae and followed the man to his office.

"I received a few job requests for you. Most of them are for photo shoots or commercials, so I think it will fit in your schedule, if you'd like."

"Yes, sir, I'd be delighted to accept them !" Kyouko was overjoyed at the news. She got new jobs ! She couldn't wait to see what kind of jobs they were.

Sawara-san pursued : "that's probably because they released the first episodes of Box-R. Really, you impressed me there ! You've only been in this industry for less than y-... Kyouko-chan ?"

Kyouko was frozen, her face as frightening as usual. Sawara-san gulped, hoping it was not him that had put her in this state.

"Kyouko-chan, is everything alright ?" When he put a hand before her, she jerked out of her dreamy state.

"Sawara-san... Are those all looking for a mean attitude ?" Kyouko asked, really depressed at this thought.

The man was glad he could dismiss her sad face when he denied it :

"Not all of them, Kyouko-chan. Sure, there are some, but that's to be expected. But you did get jobs that don't really require a mean attitude."

"Really ?" The girl looked now like she had been told Christmas had been advanced to tomorrow.

"Y-Yes... Look, I'll give you those papers, and you just check them out. When you're done, come back here, okay ?" For a reason Kyouko didn't understand, Sawara-san didn't seem too enthusiastic. She quickly dismissed that thought, took the papers and walked out of the office, rejoicing at all the offers she got.

Meanwhile, Sawara-san sunk into his chair, wondering in fright at how she would find the offers that were not requiring a mean attitude. He hoped she would only look at them at home, so she'd have time to calm down before seeing him.

…...........................................................................................................................................................

It was not until the end of the day that Kyouko got to look at what she'd get from the man's office. First, she only found offers like commercials that needed a villain. There were also photo shoots, requiring the same thing. She started to read the last two ones, and then froze. 'What the hell...' She looked dumbfounded at the paper in her hands. This job was a photo shoot that would advertise a lipstick. They wanted an actress to display a sense of wickedness and a playful smile for the ad, in order to be more alluring. Kyouko quickly shifted to the last offer, very disturbed by what she'd read. But what awaited her was worse that the previous offer. It was a request for a commercial, and not only they wanted a sexy actress, but they wanted her to seduce a man, all that just to promote a perfume.

Kyouko stared into space in disbelief. How the hell had she gotten these kinds of offer ?

"Kyouko-chan !" Said girl raised her head to Hikaru Ishibashi, one of the Bridge Brothers. He was bent toward her, a surprised look on his face. "What are you still doing here ? Weren't you supposed to go home after the show ?" At least, that's what she usually said when he or his brothers invited her after the show. They would go out to get a few drinks together with the rest of the staff from times to times, but Kyouko had always declined.

"H-Hum... Yeah, I was going to go, but then I remembered I just got new job offers so I was checking them out." Kyouko answered, a apologetic smile on her face.

"That's great ! So, are there any interesting ones ?" The girl froze at that, which made Hikaru curious. "What ? Could it be that there are none ? No way ! After the release of your latest drama, I'd thought you'd receive more requests of alluring roles !" Double freeze. That was something the boy wasn't expecting. "Hum, Kyouko-chan, are you upset about something ?"

"Hikaru-san, I did receive requests for **alluring** roles... And that what's the problem ! Why would I have to do some-something like that !" She showed him the two papers, and had so much emphasized on the word 'alluring' that Hikaru just knew she didn't like it one bit.

"W-Well, those sure are a bit... extravagant. But I'm sure you'd do well in both of them..." Hikaru said, after remembering the way she had asked him to keep her fall from the stairs a secret.

"Don't say, that, Hikaru-san. I perfectly know that I'm a plain and boring woman. I wouldn't know how to act in those." Kyouko hung her head, her bangs hiding her eyes. One could think she was sad, but she really was fuming inside. 'After all, this is the kind of job that woman HIS taste usually receive. I'm not one of those pretty, desirable girls who have an E-cup, and I'm fine with that too. I'll show you just how good I am with only my acting skills, Shotaro !' Her thoughts (along with her rising Kyouko-grudges) were interrupted by Hikaru, who really thought she was sad. Otherwise, he'd never admit to her what he was going to say.

"That's not true, Kyouko-chan. You can be a hell of a s-sexy girl when you want to." He was beet red, but his eyes showed determination. He wouldn't leave her until he had fully comforted her and given her the confidence to accept the jobs. "Remember when you found that girl's note ? Well, you may not have noticed, but you suddenly got very mature a-and... and attractive. So that's why I know you can do this !" He was so dead, he thought. What he just said sounded like a confession, and he knew she didn't feel that way toward him. But of course, Kyouko being... Kyouko, she didn't take the bait.

"What ? Really ?" She looked at him with big surprised eyes. That made him blush even more 'Maybe... ?' And then she frowned. "But that was because I was acting Natsu without noticing. Without her, I wouldn't be able to... That's it ! I get it ! That's how I'm going to do the jobs ! I'll be Natsu ! I'll show him just what I'm made of ! Hikaru-san, thank you so much ! You've helped me a great deal here !" And with that she ran off, leaving a poor, poor Hikaru behind. 'So that's how it was... She was only acting at the time.' He sunk to the ground. 'And just who was 'him' referring to ?' He sulked. When the other two Ishibashi brothers found him, he was still sitting on the ground, a lovesick and depressed look on his face.

Meanwhile, Kyouko was going home, laughing like a maniac. She scared lots of passers-by that night too.

…............................................................................................................................................................

When she went into Sawara-san's office the following morning, the man was really surprised at her cool behavior. Indeed, she had let Natsu possess her, and was in the mood for some fun. When Sawara-san explained to her that she had to choose between the lipstick ad and the perfume ad, she opted for the last, enjoying the fact that she would be fooling around with a man. She picked up two requests for a photo-shoot that needed a scary woman, and a mad woman (the difference between the two was thin, but Natsu knew how she would act in those. She was determined to toy with the photographer (the two offers she accepted were from the same studio, so she would just do both of them at the same time). With the commercial and the new drama (not forgetting the still filming Box-R and Kimagure Rock), she would be quite busy from now on.

But what Natsu was eagerly waiting for was the commercial for the perfume called 'confidence'. Whoever that would be playing opposite her, she would make him grovel at her feet.

* * *

**That's it for today ! Don't hesitate to leave a review to let me think what you thought of it, or help me improve ! Chapter 4 is half-written, but I've decided to try to save my poor study year so I'll be working hard in order to get my diploma. I promise I won't wait a month to post the next chapter. Maybe 2 weeks, more or less. See you !**


	4. Chapter 4: Confidence, seduction and?

**Hello everyone ! Here I am again, with another chapter of this story! I tried to write it as quickly as I could, so that you wouldn't have to wait too long to have a small glimpse of the perfume commercial. I know I could have depicted the scene better, but this is only Kijima's point of view here, I promise I'll rewrite the scene from another point of view, and I hope you'll think it is better.**

**I have to thank you reviewers who gave me the energy to write another chapter so quickly. Lots of thanks especially to MangaAddict2688 and missmeadow, whose reviews not only made me really happy (because they were constructive, encouraging and long ^^), but helped me improve my typing. I hope you'll notice I now am conforming myself to the English typing rules (which I didn't know were different from the French ones, by the way).**

**Ah, I almost forgot that again :**

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat!  
**

**Here is the chapter. Hope you'll enjoy!**

_Chapter 4 : **Confidence, seduction and...?**_

Kyouko entered the studio, all her past confidence lost (courtesy of Natsu leaving her body a few days before, because she wouldn't lower herself to play Bo). Talking about Bo's show, Hikaru sure was acting strange lately. Whenever their eyes would meet, he'd become red and clumsy. He'd stammer each time he would talk to her, and that was pretty embarrassing. Since the day he had helped her with accepting the jobs, he'd been like that. When she asked his brothers about his behavior (out of concern for one of her co-workers), they simply shrugged, telling her he was an idiot.

She shook those thoughts off her head. Now was not the time to be thinking about such things. She had a job to complete, and that wasn't an easy one. She asked for the director, and soon she found herself in front of a young man that quite reminded her of director Kurosaki. He was wearing a worn-out T-shirt and blue jeans, his hair was spiked, and she could see a lot of piercings on his left ear. His gaze was sharp, though, and he impressed her. The man had an aura that said 'I-know-what-I-want-and-I'll-get-it'.

"Good day to you, sir, I'm Kyouko, from LME." She bowed very respectfully.

"Hello, Kyouko-chan. I'm glad you accepted my offer." He eyed her from head to toe, thus making her blush, and nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, you'll fit perfectly... Alright, guys, let's have the first meeting!"

Rapidly, a circle formed around him, in which Kyouko took part. Soon, she recognized Hidehito Kijima of Dark Moon. He smiled at her, and that helped her relax a little. She at least knew someone here!

"Now that we're all here, let's review the whole plot again. The purpose of this commercial is to show people how the product can have an influence on a woman's life. We all know that a lot of women are particularly concerned with their love life. That's where you, Kyouko-chan, enter. I want you to play a plain girl, unsure about the way of life, and who is longing for a romantic relationship with a man whose looks are higher than average. She thinks he's out of reach for a plain girl like her." The director gave the crew a long look, as if to verify everybody understood him so far.

"The next part of the commercial is about how, with the perfume's help, she changes into a sexy predator ready to catch her prey, which of course will be Kijima-kun. In order to do that," he turned to Kyouko, "I need you to act like Natsu, Kyouko-chan, but without being too naughty, or else our poor Kijima-kun will be a goner". At that people laughed, and Kyouko blushed.

"H-Hai! I'll do my best!" She said, a bit uncomfortable with the playful smile on the director's lips.

"Okay, so if there's no question, I want you all to go prepare for the first scene. You're dismissed!"

A few hours later, Kyouko was standing in the middle of a crowded street, looking lost as she tried to advance. It was kinda hard, because she was being pushed by the busy people that wouldn't even acknowledge her existence. Tired of all the pushing, she tried to escape from the street.

"OK, cut!" Kyouko and the people moving on the street stepped out from the set. It was the fourth take being filmed. As one would think, orchestrating this many people was not easy, but the director had given very precise instructions, so it didn't take long to create a suffocating atmosphere.

"We're shooting the next scene outdoors, so people involved with it, please get on the bus! It's not far from here, but we don't have much time left, since we had to shoot the first scene today." The director left to discuss things with his cast crew. Their schedule was tight, since they had to leave the studio quickly. It was one of the more spacious places in Tokyo, and usually scenes that included crowded streets were filmed there so that the working people of the town wouldn't be too bothered. Therefore, this studio was usually booked weeks in advance. They had more time to shoot in the park, and that was partly why the director had chosen to film most of the scenes outdoors. Moreover, the weather didn't really matter for what he wanted to do this day. If it wasn't raining, he would use some artificial rain. Even a shiny weather would be good. He would make use of the light one way or another. The depth of the scene would depend on Kyouko's skills mostly, and he was confident she would give him what he wanted. He'd seen all of her previous works, and heard from director Kurosaki (who was his senpai in this industry) that she could just be 'the real deal'. His instincts told him so too, as he observed her talking to Kijima enthusiastically.

"I'm so happy I get to work with someone I know from another set!" Kyouko smiled at Kijima. The man smiled back at her.

"The same goes for me, Kyouko-chan. And I wanted to tell you that I'm amazed at how you managed to play such a cool Nacchan! I'm a fan of Box-R now, thanks to you." 'What astonishes me most is that I would have never guessed she could be that sexy when playing a bully', he thought, carefully checking the girl out. 'She may be worth of getting her phone number...'

"Oh, I'm not that cool, Hidehito-san..." She was flattered by his praise.

"There's no Hidehito-san for you, Kyouko-chan. It's Kijima-kun. Please."

"B-But, I couldn't... You're my senpai, after all." She answered, too embarrassed to call him by his name.

"Oh, please, I don't want you to treat me like a senpai! Won't you think of me as a friend you've worked with twice now?" He looked at her with such pleading eyes that she couldn't resist him any longer.

"Alright... K-Kijima-san." He smiled at her shy answer.

"That's already better, but next time, I want you to call me Kijima-kun. After all, you're supposed to capture my heart in the near future!" His joke made the poor girl blush even more.

"W-Well, that's true, but I will only be able to do that when I'm in Natsu mode." Kyouko began to wonder if the man wasn't trying his flirting methods on her... not that he would be interested in her, but she'd have to be careful about not giving him too many occasions to test his charms on her. She'd hate to reject his attentions, in case that'd ruin their professional relationship. That's why Kyouko moved slightly from Kijima, leaving enough space between them so he wouldn't be able to 'accidentally' brush his hand against hers, as he'd been doing so for the past minutes.

At the end of the day, Kyouko felt exhausted. Now she was sure of it : Kijima was flirting with her, and she was beginning to feel annoyed. It was hard to avoid him gently. He had grown more interested in her after they tried to act the second part of the commercial. It seemed that 'Nacchan' was his type of girl. And to say they'd have to work together for two more weeks! 'Why can't the director just gather us two days in a row and let it at that?' That was a rhetorical question. With everyone's schedule, it had been hard to find enough time to finish the project. That was why they would meet twice a week for half a day in the following weeks.

When she finally reached Ren's apartment (they had scheduled another training session), she was completely out of strength. She ran the bell then fell to the floor, quietly waiting for her senpai to open his door.

"Hi, Moga-... Mogami-san, is everything alright ?" Ren asked, quite surprised at his kouhai's position. The girl slowly rose to her feet, numbly nodding to Ren, then lost her balance as the grocery bags she had brought with her held her down. "Whoa... I guess not. Here, let me help you with those."

Ren gently took the bags from her, after having secured Kyouko's balance, and invited her to come in. "You know, Mogami-san, you should have just canceled for tonight, if you're that tired..."

That made Kyouko stand straight again. "Of course I couldn't do that, Tsuruga-san! How could I ever cancel our training session when you're so kind to let me have it, although you have a very tight and tiring schedule?"

"Yes, but you didn't have to buy all those things, we could have just ordered someth-... OK, OK, I get it. Home-made food is the best." He added quickly in order to wipe her face of the upcoming blast. 'Seriously, when it comes to food, she won't care whether I'm her senpai or not...'

After their quick meal, they began acting their character again. Kyouko now felt completely at ease, evolving around Ren like a little birdie. The man (be it himself or Ryu), was undeniably drawn to her, as he listened to her stories about her own world.

"And then, you'd see a pure blue light slowly merge with the ground, while a very warm feeling spread through your feet and then invade you whole body..." Kyouko hold her own shoulders tight before letting go again, and continued in a dreamy state : "It's pure bliss ! I wish you could feel that, too." She glanced at her partner, a wide smile on her lips. Which kinda froze when she saw THAT expression. His bright, genuine smile disappeared as he began to frown.

"Mogami-san, you're not supposed to freeze like that now. I'm beginning to fall in love with you, so it's normal for me to show unguarded faces. You, on the other hand, have to respond a bit to that. You should show happiness when I'm opening up to you, not this anxious face!"

"Yes, sorry... Could we do it again?" She started fidgeting. Ren sighed, and got up.

"Alright, but only after you have some tea. You're starting to get nervous."

"H-hum, yeah, sorry, Tsuruga-san..." she said sheepishly. Here they were, at the point where her acting couldn't cover her weakness. Overcoming this was the whole point of those training sessions, so now she would see how she would do it, with her senpai's help.

"Here, drink this." She took the fuming cup he was handing her, and took a few sips.

"Hum, thank you, Tsuruga-san, this tea is really good! I don't think I've ever drunk this kind of tea before. Is it a new variety?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I just picked it from a tea store, because I liked its scent." And yes, he did pick it thinking of her. Since she was going to be around here a lot for training, he'd decided that he could at least buy different kinds of tea and coffee so that she wouldn't think that he only had instant coffee. Which used to be true.

He waited for her to finish her tea and then, without any warning, got right into character and smiled at her the same way he had when she had frozen. Of course, this took Kyouko off guard, and her blush spread wildly, while she stopped breathing.

'Eh, that's better than freezing', Ren thought, glad he only needed to really smile at her to make her blush. 'Time for a little fun...'

"Mogami-san..."

"H-Hai?" She was flushed, he could see that clearly. 'Well', he thought, 'that's good'.

"Do you think that your BIG blush was appropriate for your character? Eri is supposed to be a pure fairy without any experience in love. She wouldn't understand the real meaning behind my smile. Unless..." he trailed off, just to make her blush more. "Unless you weren't in character and thought this smile was directed at you ?" He smirked at her. Teasing her made him feel like he had the situation under complete control, which was true, for once. He didn't have to put his feelings aside, for he was too occupied with his current task (aka teasing her until no ends).

Kyouko stood up like some clown popping out of a box, and began stuttering.

"W-Why... y-you ! No ! I mean, yes, I wasn't prepared, but... but you caught me out of guard! It wasn't-..." She suddenly became gloomy. "Tsuruga-saaaaan... are you making fun of me?"

Ren couldn't hold it any longer. He burst out laughing.

"Pff-mh... I'm-haha, I'm sorry, Mogami-san, but you-pff, you really should have seen your face, hahaha ! Now, I'm sorry, really. Please, forgive me?" He still was smiling, but this time his voice told more apologies than his previous attempt. Maybe this was due to the fact that Kyouko had become Mio and was showing some murder intent.

"Let's start over again, okay?" Ren said, hoping she would stop looking at him with such a murderous glare.

"Alright. But please, Tsuruga-san, I'd appreciate if you didn't make fun of me anymore. I know it's a annoying task for you to perform with a newbie like me, but if you try to make fun of me, I won't have the confidence to act anymore."

'Whoa, here comes the mistress-like look she can show from times to times', Ren thought, while nodding to the girl. She showed this kind of expression when she usually scolded him regarding his eating habits. Now he'd seen it on two other occasions : when she scolded him for his behavior with women, and just now, when she reminded him it was impolite to openly make fun of other people.

It was nearly midnight when they decided to call it a day. Kyouko was still having difficulties dealing with Ren's bright smile, but at least, she wasn't reacting too strongly anymore. Ren insisted to drive her back home, and after a small fight (when her "really, Tsuruga-san, I don't want to bother you anymore, just let me walk home" got Kyouko a rather harsh scolding from her senpai, she gave in), they were in his car on their way to the Daruma-ya.

"So, you never told me what got you so exhausted when you came in earlier. Is there something that's been bothering you, Mogami-san?" Ren was curious at what got his kouhai so out of energy before (of course, she had regained some thanks to the training session). Her reaction made him even more curious (and a bit worried too).

She had become completely stiff, her fists tightly closed, and a very annoyed look had taken place on her face. "That was... Let's say... A rather tiring experience I had at work. I don't think I got the chance to tell you that I got new job offers, did I ?"

When he shook his head, she pursued :

"Well... I get to act in a commercial for a perfume. The product is called 'Confidence'. I don't know if I'm supposed to talk to anyone about the commercial or not, but let's just say that I have a partner, Hidehito Kijima-san, and he's... how should I say it... a bit too enthusiastic about the scenes we have together."

"Are you trying to tell me he's been a bother to you?" Ren's voice sent down shivers to Kyouko's back. She didn't dare look at him, for she was pretty sure his face was as frightening as his voice. The poor girl cringed.

"N-No... That's not it. I didn't mean to speak ill about him! He's not a bother at all! I'm... I'm just not used to that kind of things, so I guess I'm the real bother here! Kijima-san is a person I respect a lot, I swear! Please don't get the wrong idea and think your kouhai has become too full of herself!" She was lowering herself as much as she could, as if she tried to do a dogeza in the car.

"Is that so ? It looks like you really like your acting partner a lot, that's good." Kyouko looked up, and was horror-struck. Ren had his gentleman smile on, at full force too. He was definitely thinking that she was getting all high and mighty! 'Nooooooooo!' She thought, 'how can I persuade him that I'm not getting hot-headed now?' Her eyes began to fill with tears.

"T-Tsuruga-sama, please believe me! How could a low-life like me ever get ahead of herself! I would never-..."

"Mogami-san," Ren interrupted her. "I believe you. Please calm down."

"Eh?" Kyouko let a surprised cry out. Her senpai looked like he had never been upset just a few seconds ago. His warm gaze seemed sincere, this time. She relaxed. 'Crisis adverted...'

"Ah, we're here already."

"Oh. Thanks for the ride, Tsuruga-san." She got out of the car, slightly sighing (out of relief). "I hope you'll have a safe trip back home."

Ren smiled at her. "Don't worry about me, Mogami-san. Goodnight."

"Good night to you too, and... thank you for taking such good care of me!" She bowed, then walked toward the restaurant.

"No problem," she heard him murmur before departing.

That night, Kyouko slept very well. However, her senpai didn't get much rest, for he was too busy imagining Kijima flirting with his kouhai.

…...........................................................................................................................................................

A few days later (and another tiring filming experience with Kijima), Kyouko went to the first meeting for the drama _The Day You Fell from the Sky._ The director warmly welcomed her, so warmly in fact, that her hand still felt a bit sore from his energetic shaking. She quietly took place near her senpai, and listened to the instructions they were given. The director's enthusiasm slowly contaminated her, as he was talking about the different shooting places they'd have to go. The beach, the mountains, the edge of a very wide forest, and lots of wonderful places! This drama was going to make them travel all through Japan!

Ren gently chuckled as he watched Kyouko's dreamy expression. She was as easily readable as a book. He was glad she got the opportunity to act in a drama that would make her travel a lot – with him, nonetheless. There would be no Fuwa, no Vie Ghoul, and _no_ Kijima around to get in her way (and his).

The meeting ended, and Ren offered Kyouko a ride to the set of Box-R. Yashiro quickly excused himself, in a not-so discreet way, but the girl didn't notice anything. She was too engulfed into her dreamland.

"Mogami-san?" Kyouko turned to Ren, starry-eyed, and her cheeks bright pink from pleasure.

"Hai, Tsuruga-san?" Ren couldn't help but chuckle again.

"You should watch your step. You nearly collided with the glassy door."

"O-Oh ! Thank you for waking me from my fantasies... I guess I should refrain from thinking about the on-location shooting for now," she said with a sheepish smile.

"This seems to be a good resolution. Shall we get going ?" He extended his hand to her. She gladly took it, not thinking that this kind of gesture could be interpreted in an other way than a symbol of a senpai guiding his kouhai.

The director smiled brightly at the sight of the two actors getting away hand in hand. 'Those two are perfectly fit for my roles... I'm such a genius!' He thought, while imagining some cute scenes between Eri and Ryu. Their chemistry was so good! He never saw the famous Tsuruga Ren interact in such a good way with a co-star before. Usually, he would be the one to lead his partner, regardless of their professional level or even gender. But with this girl, it felt different. It was as if he was taking extra-care of her while letting her move or act freely. In a way, he was trying to go at her pace, and that was exactly what the director needed for his drama. He rubbed his hands together. This was going to be a total success!

…............................................................................................................................................................

"Cut! That's wrap. Let's change scenes." The director then turned himself to Kyouko. "Kyouko-chan, could you get ready for the third part please?"

"Yes, I'll go change straight away!"

The young actress left the set, while Kijima eyed her with anticipation. Finally, she would try to seduce him! Up until now he only had made a slight appearance, in order for the public to see who the girl liked. Now he would play an active part in the scenes, responding to Kyouko's advances. He smiled. The director had asked Kyouko to improvise so that the scene would seem more real. Kijima had to look genuinely surprised at the girl's sudden change. That was why he wasn't allowed to see the girl until the very last moment.

When that time came, the cameraman did a good job taking in his expression. Pure, delighted surprise spread across his features. In front of him, a girl – no, a woman – was strolling toward him, in a highly provocative outfit. She wore a vivid red dress, shorter than what would be decent, with flashy red lipstick. Her wrists were covered in gold and elegant bracelets, while she only had a single gold chain around her neck. Her high heels were making a soft sound while she advanced like a feline toward her prey. When she came at arms' length of the man, he could smell her perfume. It was an exhilarating scent, which made him desire her rather powerfully. He almost lost his head when she sexily leaned toward him, showing him a part of her neck and shoulder.

Then it began. The touching. First, she had only breathed again his own skin (his neck, his ears), and then she had lightly began to touch his chest with her caressing hands. One went up his right cheek, while the other got to the back of his neck, then played with his hair. He leaned into her scent and touch, his head bent toward her chin, which he was about to kiss when she brutally pulled him back.

She sent him a wicked smile and then began to walk off seductively.

His knees weakened and he fell to the ground.

"Okay, cut!" Kijima rose his head. What? What had happened? Was that really... acting? How could that be? How could this girl be such a sexy and appealing female under such an up-tight and boring behavior? He slowly got up and stepped out of the set, still dazed. What a woman, really!

"Kijima-kun!" Called the director. "Good job here. Your expressions were pretty good, it was great!"

"Thank you, director." He answered, like an automate. What good job? He hadn't even had time to act! Everything he'd done was to be struck by her sex appeal! How did that count as a 'good job'?

Meanwhile, Kyouko was having a hard time breathing. Bored, Natsu had left her the instant she had walked off the set. Now, how was she supposed to behave in front of Kijima-san? Natsu had been so... indecent!

Luckily for Kyouko, it was the last scene she had to perform for today, so the director, after having reviewed the act and given his OK, dismissed her. She vaguely thanked everyone for their hard work and went home.

On her way, she saw a silver car parked near a supermarket, and without thinking she walked toward it. She looked inside to see no one was there. A bit disappointed (thought she didn't know why), she started to walk away when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder.

"Mogami-san?" The girl turned around, and weakly smiled.

"Oh, it's you, Tsuruga-san... I thought I'd recognized your car. But you scared me there, coming out of nowhere!" Ren chuckled. He was doing that a lot lately, Kyouko couldn't help but notice.

"I didn't come out of nowhere, but out of the shop. You were too deep in your thoughts to hear me approaching." Ren saw her tired figure, and concluded she probably had another hard time at work. He hoped it was not because of Kijima's flirtatious habits. "Did you just finish working ?" He asked, a bit worried for her health.

"Hum, yes. But we finished our work in one shot!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. She wanted him to think that she was doing fine in her work, and with her co-workers. She absolutely didn't want him to think she was annoyed with Kijima-san again, for she feared he might get angry again.

"That's good. Since you are here, maybe I could give you a ride home?" He hoped she wouldn't put up a fight, because it really was getting late and he didn't want her to wander alone in the streets.

"If it doesn't bother you, then I'll gladly-... Tsuruga-san?" Ren turned to her, alerted by the sudden change in her voice.

"What is it, Mogami-san?" She was looking at him with very suspicious eyes.

"What did you buy in that store?" 'Huh?' He thought, a bit taken aback by her question. He answered automatically.

"Well, I bought food, why do you-... oh." He should have seen this coming. He put a protective arm around his grocery bags.

"Show it to me." That was an order, and an imperative one at that. He didn't want to give in without putting a good fight, so Ren counter-attacked.

"Why should I, Mogami-san? I am your senpai, so you shouldn't order me around." Kyouko glared at him.

"Tsuruga-saaaan... This has nothing to do with being a kouhai or a senpai. It's about professionalism. Will you show me your bags or do I have to report your childish and unprofessional behavior to Yashiro-san? Or better, to our president?" This was definitely a threat. From her firm attitude, he was sure she would report him. He thought about the consequences. 'Yashiro, I can handle. But the Boss... oh well, she'll scold me anyway, I might as well give her satisfaction.'

Reluctantly, he passed the bags to her. As she had suspected, he had only bought onigiri and some junk food. She effectively gave him a good scolding, and made him go back to the store to buy healthy ingredients. She then ordered him to show her what he had learned from their cooking lessons, so they headed to his apartment.

Finally, Ren thought as he began to cook under her severe gaze, it wasn't so bad... She was here with him, because she cared for his health, in a way. Even if he lost the right to eat anything he wanted to, he had gained something much more precious than that, he thought, as she showed him what he had done wrong. He smiled.

This really wasn't that bad.

* * *

**That's it ! i know i said this chapter wouldn't be out in a while, but thanks to your reviews, it was out two days after chapter 3. Now I don't know how many time chapter 5 will take me, because I didn't study well these past two days because I was too enthusiastic about this chapter. Now I need to make up for it.**

**And I need to know what I will write in the 5th chapter. I have the whole plot all done, some scenes already written, but i didn't think about it in detail. If you want something to happen in particular, feel free to make suggestions, but I'll only try to write them if they fit the ideas I have in mind.**

**See you !  
**


	5. Chapter 5 : For the sake of love part1

**Hello there! I'm back with another chapter, a bit later than what I had expected, but anyway, it's there. Thanks to all the people who reviewed, and a special thanks to ChokoStyle, who helped me a lot for this chapter. It turned out not like I wanted it, because I got a bit too carried away. Well, it doesn't really matter, since I'll put what I wanted to put here in the next chapter (I'll start writing it as soon as I finish posting this chapter). Thus, this is the first part of chapter 5 : For the sake of love.**

**EDIT : I keep forgetting the disclaimer... I do not own Skip Beat!  
**

**Enjoy !  
**

_Chapter 5 : **For the sake of love (part 1)  
**_

Kyouko was heading towards the LoveMe section when she encountered Maria.

"Onee-sama!" She jumped into Kyouko's opened arms.

"Maria-chan, how are you? It's been a while!"

"I'm glad I'm able to see you, onee-sama. I have big news!" Maria was pretty excited. 'Must be good news', thought Kyouko, smiling to her cute friend.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to America to see Dad next holiday!"

"Really? That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you, Maria-chan! I'll make sure to send you off, just tell me when your plane departs."

"Well, it's grandpa's private jet I'm taking, so I can go at whichever hour I want. But I think it will be around n-... Ren-sama!" 'Eh?' Kyouko looked in the same direction as Maria. Indeed, the tall man was walking across the corridor towards them, a beautiful smile on his lips. Yashiro was following him, a very disappointed look on his face. Kyouko got up and bowed to them, while Maria claimed Ren's arms.

"Good afternoon, Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san. How are you today? Did you have a good meal?" Somehow, this sentence sent down shivers to Maria and Yashiro. Was Kyouko threatening Ren without them knowing? From the look on Ren's face, they were not likely to be mistaken. The man held his hands in a defensive pose, and chuckled. But it seemed to be a bit forced on his part.

"Now, now, calm down. I ate rather well today, right, Yashiro-san?"

"Is that true, Yashiro-san?" Kyouko's demons were now encircling Yashiro's body, in order to forbid him to tell any lie to cover up for his charge. The poor man quickly nodded. It was hard to be caught between the two of them: Ren flashed him his brightest smile, while Kyouko was more menacing than ever.

"Wow, onee-sama, I never knew you cared for Ren's health this much!" Exclaimed Maria, bewildered. That comment made Kyouko uneasy, and all her little demons went back to her.

"Well, t-that's because I'm his kouhai, Maria-chan." Then she regained some confidence and added: "But really, Tsuruga-san, I shouldn't have to look after your eating habits. That's not professional."

"Oh!" Yashiro interrupted. "So that was all it was about? Kyouko-chan, did you go to Ren's house yesterday night to cook him a meal?"

"Eh? How did you know, Yashiro-san?" Kyouko asked, surprised.

Yashiro shrugged. "It doesn't matter, but this man here didn't want me to know about it. He probably didn't want me to scold him too." The slight smirk on the man's face disappeared when he saw how brightly Ren smiled at him.

"Yashiro-san, don't you know that it's rude to talk about someone to another one when this someone is standing right here?"

"A-Ah... right, I kinda forgot my manners... then, if you'll excuse me, work awaits me!" And just like that, Yashiro disappeared from their view.

"Nee, nee, wasn't Yashiro-san acting weird, just now?" Asked Maria. She had never seen him so disturbed before. And little did she know that Ren's waves didn't match with his bright figure. 'Something is off, today', she thought, while observing Kyouko deeply apologize to Ren for being so rude, and Ren trying to persuade her that it was Yashiro's fault.

"Speaking about work, onee-sama, are you here to see grandpa? I know he wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, that's right! I'm sorry, I have to go right now if I don't want to be late... Have a good day, Tsuruga-san, Maria-chan!" And then Kyouko ran to the president's office.

"Maria, do you know what your grandfather wants to talk about with Mogami-san?" Ren asked, a bit worried about his kouhai.

"Hum, I don't really know, but this morning, he was murmuring this like 'romance', 'not ready', 'LoveMe member number one' and so on, so I thought he was talking about onee-sama. But it's weird to associate her with the word 'romance'..." Maria got silent, deep in her thoughts. 'Talking about romance, Ren-sama is acting weird when he's with onee-sama. Does that mean that he has special feelings for her, I wonder... Well, it doesn't really matter. I'm a little sad, but I know that if Ren can't marry me, he has to marry onee-sama.' She then looked brightly at the man next to her. "I guess I'll cheer for you, then, Ren-sama!" And with that, she left to find an appropriate gift for her father.

"What was that all about?" Ren wondered aloud. Why would Maria cheer for him? And what for?

…...

"Mogami-kun, I'm a bit worried about your new project, I don't think I need to tell you why."

Kyouko nodded. "I-I know why you placed me on this LoveMe section, sir, and I carefully made my choice, doing a lot of thinking and weighting my options. But, I really want to do this job."

Lory shrugged. The girl had her mind set on this idea, he could see it in her eyes. "Well, may I at least ask why you decided to play in a romance drama, when you knew this will reveal your biggest weakness?"

Kyouko bent her head down. She stayed silent for a bit, until all her courage was gathered. "W-Well, I know I still miss that essential thing for an actor that is the ability to love and be loved back. The reason I want to act in this drama is that I'll do whatever it'll take for me to regain this ability. It may sounds a bit too presumptuous of me, but I really want to be a first-rate actor in the future, and I think that this drama can offer me the chance to improve my skills and range as an actor a great deal."

"So you don't actually have a plan to overcome your weakness?" Lory said, his voice showing his disapproval.

"O-Of course I have, sir! I would never think that just by wishful thinking I could obtain whatever I wanted! Actually, I've been working on my role and the way I had to portray it with Tsuruga-san. He was kind enough to help me in my quest for recovery!"

Lory showed an annoyed face. 'Again, she talks about love as if it was a disease.' He then conveyed his thoughts to the interesting help the girl got.

"Oh? Ren is helping you feel love? That's good news." 'Making a move on the girl, eh?'

A dark aura suddenly surrounded Kyouko. "Could you please phrase it in another way?"

Lory took a step back. "Y-Yeah, sure..." 'Scary girl...'

…...

Moments later, Ren, Yashiro and Kyouko were heading to the set of the drama (I should abbreviate it into tDYFftS. Eeeks... Doesn't sound too good... DYFS is better. Now that this matter is solved, let's continue with the story).

The first scene they had to shoot would actually be the third scene of the first episode. Because it was a really hard scene to portray, they would work the whole afternoon on it. Kyouko still wondered why the director thought they'd need so much time, until she saw the props for the scene. Thinking back about the script, her face went white. 'So that's why they asked me if I wanted to have a stunt-woman do this...' Seeing the change of color of his kouhai, Ren worriedly asked her if she was okay. The poor girl only nodded, and gritted her teeth. Now was the time to prove that she was a real professional. She walked toward the set, a bit awkwardly, but with determination.

The director spotted them. "Ah, Kyouko-chan, great timing. We were about to ask for volunteers to test the prop out. But since you're here, you'll do it. It will be a small practice for the scene. Is that alright?"

Kyouko's faint answer was almost inaudible. Walking like a zombie, she let the crew prepare her. For what, you wonder? For the first meeting of Eri and Ryu, of course. And if anyone remember in what conditions those two met, you'll understand why Kyouko was so frightened.

She was now on a platform, which was 20 meters (which is approximatively 65.6 feet) away from the ground, with only a rope preventing her from crashing below. And the staff was kindly asking her _to just jump_... She gripped the safety bar with all her strength. 'I can't do it, I can't do it, I CAN'T DO IT !' She moaned inwardly. 'Oh, why did I say that I wanted to do the stunts myself?'

"Kyouko-chan, don't worry. We adjusted the rope so that no matter how you jump, you'll never crash in the bridge's barrier." The staff member said, trying to reassure the girl.

Kyouko swallowed. Hard. She had forgotten all about that damn barrier! Not only did she have to jump from a reaaaally high place, she also had to land right _after_ passing that horribly solid-looking barrier. But the most frightening fact was that she would pass it only by a few inches, so that when she would collide with her senpai, they would both land on a big mattress. Right now, she only had to jump and let herself be caught by a skilled stunt-man, to show Ren how to catch her properly (and to land without hurting too much). The actor had wanted to do his own stunts too. And that was another reason for worrying in Kyouko's mind. What if she hurt her senpai because she did something wrong? Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the man near her say sorry, but she did feel his hands roughly push her towards the edge of the platform. And then she fell...

"!" She kept shrieking, and tried agitating her arms like they were wings. When that didn't work, she used her legs. She heard the stunt-man yell at her not to move, and became as stiff as a stone. A stone which was about to crash in that freaking solid barrier! As she was seeing the man and the wall approach, she closed her eyes and said a few prayers. And then...!

WHAM! She felt strong arms encircle her waist and then land brutally on the mattress.

"Are you alright, miss?" Asked the man under her. But Kyouko wasn't really able to answer him. She felt as if her soul was escaping her body, leaving an empty shell behind.

"Mogami-san, are you alright?" That voice... She had heard it before. But it was... worried? Why was it worried?

"Ren, don't panic, it's just the shock from the first jump, it's a normal reaction." Oh, this one looked familiar too...

Ah! That's right, it was Yashiro-san's voice. And so, the first belonged to... "Tsuruga-san!" Suddenly she grabbed her soul and forced it back where it belonged. She opened her eyes.

"Good grief, you're alright... You gave me quite a fright there, Mogami-san." Ren said, relief evident in his voice. Kyouko shot up, and deeply bowed in front of him. "I'm so sorry for worrying you, Tsuruga-san! I'll... I'll... try to... uh..." Ren caught her as her legs gave under her. He gave a worried look at the stunt-man that was getting up.

"Don't worry, she's just missing some energy. After all, this kind of jump usually gives so much adrenaline that when you do it for the first time, your energy is completely drained out of you. Make her eat some chocolate bar, and she'll recover in no time."

"I guess I lost my bet, then." The director said as the two actors left the set, Kyouko being carried bridal-style in Ren's arms. He handed a few bills to the stunt-man. "I bet she would faint, but only her body has given up..." Indeed, Kyouko was energetically trying to persuade Ren that she could walk by herself. The man refused to let her down until he could sit her on a chair and bring her something to eat. The director had already had a snack prepared for her. From the corner of his eye, he saw the bills being changed of hands and guessed what they were for. Really, did he have fun torturing his lead actress, Ren wondered.

Now that Kyouko had recovered a bit, she understood why this scene would take them the whole afternoon. If she had to recover from each jump, it'd take hours to wrap it. She froze. Wait, she had to do it again! Could she really survive another – no, many others – row? She highly doubted it.

Ren approached her. "Are you sure you're willing to do this stunt?"

Kyouko looked at him. "W-Well, right now, I would tell you that I don't want to do it, but I know I'll regret it later, so, yes, I'll do it. After all, this is my first lead role, and I wouldn't want someone to replace me, even if it's for a few seconds."

Still not much convinced, Ren ordered her to take it easy, and went to prepare for the stunt.

Moments later, Kyouko was on the platform again. "I can do it, I can do it, I can do it..." She kept murmuring to herself, her eyes tightly shut. 'When I open my eyes, I jump. At the count of three.' "One... Two... Two and a half... Two seventy-five...Two ninety-six... Two ninety-nine... Two ninety-nine and a half... Oh, gosh I won't survive to this... THREE!"

And she jumped. This time, she stayed stiff for the whole fall, and only a small cry escaped her lips. She brutally collided with the stunt-man, when she still thought that it was the wall that she would slowly got up again, and Ren helped Kyouko sit on the same chair she was before, while Yashiro grinned like a maniac. There, she rested a bit, and ate another chocolate bar.

"Mogami-san, do you trust me?" Ren asked her, a really honest look in his eyes.

"Y-Yes, I do, why?" Kyouko answered, surprised by the odd question.

Ren took a small breath before answering: "Because I think it's time for me to catch you." The girl looked at him thoughtfully, then nodded. "I guess... It really didn't take you long before you memorized what to do, Tsuruga-san. Please, take care of me, then." She bowed to him.

"Is that all you have to say?" Ren asked, bewildered.

Kyouko frowned. "What else can I possibly say?"

"Hum, let's see, something among the lines of 'please, don't hurt me'? Or 'I hope you'll catch me, Tsuruga-san...' Or it could be 'are you sure you're ready? You could hurt both of us if you're not.' What about that?"

Kyouko shook her head, and smiled at him. "No, I have no reason to say anything like that. I know you won't hurt me, and I'm sure you'll catch me. Besides, if you say that you're ready, then you are. If not, why would you say that you are?"

Ren sighed. Ah, right... He was her super-senpai who could not fail in her eyes...

Yashiro smirked. "Wow, you really have faith in Ren, don't you, Kyouko-chan?"

"That's true. But why wouldn't I? I mean, everybody knows how dependable and professional Tsuruga-san is." Kyouko was wearing such an adoring look, that Ren didn't have the heart to tell her he was only human. Her eyes were literally screaming 'he can do it!'. What else could he need to encourage him?

"I'm honored that you trust me so much, Mogami-san. I'll be looking forward to working with you on this scene." He bowed to her.

"No, no, that's my line, I'm very honored to be able to work with such a great actor and man as yourself, Tsuruga-san. I'll be in your hands from now on." She bowed even deeper than him, and kept that posture until he got up. She then trotted to the set, to prepare for another jump.

Yashiro could feel sand flow out of his mouth. What, this could be an opportunity to bring those two closer, and this is how it turns out? Something about respect and pride as an actor? You'd gotta be kidding! Here they were, praising each other and bowing, but only talking from a professional point of view! Heck, shouldn't the fact that she had to trust Ren completely awake some lovely mood between them?

Yashiro could perfectly see what should have been happening :

"I really want to do this, Tsuruga-san, but... I'm _so_ scared!" Kyouko should say, her petite frame shaking. Then Ren should take her in his arms, and comfort her with sweet words. "Don't worry, Mogami-san, I'll be there to catch you, you'll be safe, I'll make sure of that."

"Oh, Tsuruga-san, you're so wonderful... I already feel safe in your arms."

"Mogami-san..."

"Tsuruga-san..."

"Hum, Yashiro-san? Is everything alright with you?" Ren asked his manager, who was making strange faces while wrapping his own arms around himself in a tight embrace. Yashiro quickly descended back to earth, and scolded at his charge. "Yes, but you're still a failure as a lover. Couldn't you at least try to be the charming prince for her?"

Ren sighed. "Yashiro-san, she doesn't need a charming prince. Didn't you hear her? She expects me to catch her, because that's what I'm supposed to do. There is nothing more than that here. So please, stop trying to imagine lovely-dovely scenes between us."

Yashiro frowned. Why was it that Ren was always right when it came to Kyouko-chan? Didn't he hope for lovely things to happen between them? Ah, but it was Ren, after all, so the sole fact that she had faith in him, even if it was because of his professional sense, could make him happy.

"Yeah, right, sorry I don't have the capacity to be happy over too small progress..."

"Tsuruga-san, Kyouko-chan is ready, could you please go to the set?" Called one of the staff members.

"I'll be right there." Ren strolled to the set, leaving a very disappointed Yashiro behind.

"Kyouko-chan, are you ready?" Asked a staff member, for the third time today. She only nodded, concentrating on her future jump. It was time she got a bit into character, because if everything was alright with Ren's stunt, they would start filming right after this jump. Since she knew he would do his part fine, she slowly got into the skin of Eri. The sky was her playground, and she was happy to fly. She remembered Corn's free face when he was flying high, and tried to feel the same way.

When she fell, she had a wide smile on her lips. One thought kept nagging her, though: the barrier looked still very solid to her. Her eyes locked onto Ren's, and all her worries flew out of her head. Of course she wouldn't crash into it. Ren would catch her, so she needn't fear anything. She slowly closed her eyes, her face at ease. As expected, when they collided, she felt his arms encircle her, and she could smell his calming fragrance. She opened her eyes again, and found herself exactly where she should be : in his soothing embrace, which was the most charming place to b-... Wait, what the hell was she thinking? She got up quickly, a bit startled by her stupid thoughts. Her mind came down to earth, and she acted like herself again.

"Thank you, Tsuruga-san, for catching me." She bowed, while the man got up.

"No need to thank me. After all, that was what you expected me to do, right?" He smiled gently at her.

"Tsuruga-san, are you alright?" Asked the stunt-man. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

"No, thanks for your concern. I did it like you told me, and it almost didn't hurt." 'But if we have to do more than two takes, my back will slightly hurt...' Ren didn't voice his thoughts, for fear Kyouko would panic if she knew he was hurting himself a bit with each take. This wasn't an easy stunt to do, after all. Since he was ahead of the security barrier, he had to be careful not to crash into it when Kyouko collided with him. In order to do that, he had to slightly jump at the time of the impact. Well, if he didn't succeed, that wouldn't be dangerous, since the solid-looking wall was in fact made of Styrofoam. But that would be a bit long to redo it.

What really made his back aches, was the impact on the mattress. The force at which Kyouko collided with him was so strong (because of the speed of her fall) that the mattress couldn't annihilate it completely.

He told the director that they could start filming, and so both of the actors went to change into their costumes.

When she saw what she'd wear for the scene Kyouko 'kyaaa-ed' a lot. It was a short-lengthened dress, which ended like the petals of a flower, and of three different colors : fair pink, sky blue and bright green. It was made of silk and gauze, and the whole thing matched perfectly the idea of a fairy's cloth in Kyouko's mind. The hair and make up woman helped her with the lenses she would wear, only applied a bit of make-up and slightly redid her hair, and she was all ready for her scene. Except that she was still beaming over the thin and translucent wings she had on her back.

When she found Ren and Yashiro on the set, she paraded in from of them, ecstatic. "Look, look, Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san, aren't those wings like real ones? And doesn't the dress look like a flower? Do I look like a real fairy in that?" Her cheeks were pink from all the joy she was having by wearing such a costume, and she simply looked like a cute child to them. She kept bouncing around them, completely unaware of the weird looks she was receiving from the staff.

"Hey, little fairy, I need you on the platform, now." The director said, liking the effect the costume had on the actress. She really looked like an innocent girl, all happy and cheery. And she wasn't even acting! That role was made for her, he thought, as she went to the platform while humming a tune.

Ren chuckled and let the staff put his security rope on him, before he steadied himself for the scene. He went into character, as he looked down at the imaginary river, and let emptiness invade him.

On the other side of the set, Kyouko had calmed down a bit. She let Eri take over, and the fairy was happily preparing for another flying journey on her beautiful world. She jumped, and let the wind caress her, then she closed her eyes. What a good feeling that was!

Suddenly, she collided with something, hard. She slowly opened her eyes, and met two brown eyes staring at hers, astonished.

She started squirming. What was that, where was she? She suddenly got up, taking in her surroundings. Wait, she felt something familiar in the air... She wasn't in her world any more. But then, where was she? She looked at the thing she had landed upon. This form... it belonged to which creature, again? Her thoughts were interrupted by the 'creature' itself.

"Are you an angel collecting the souls of dead people?" Oh, yeah, now she remembered it. She had somehow fallen on Earth. Earth, of all things! The world where stupid creatures called humans lived. They weren't particularly loved by fairies, because they were slowly destroying the Nature. She looked at him with angered eyes. "Me? An angel? Are you kidding me? Don't you recognize a fairy when you see one? And what's this crap about dead people? You're a stupid human living on a stupid planet called Earth! Mah, why did I even ended up here?"

"Okay, cut!" Called the director. "You did well, you two. Now, let's go review this." A few minutes later, the director was back, a big smile on his face. "It's good. Now, on with the scene that we will use for the ad."

Kyouko went back to the platform, ready to perform another jump. They had to do almost the same scene, but without the bridge-like scenery. Kyouko had to let her eyes open, and this time, not only did Ren had to catch her, but she had to catch him as well. Her arms had to encircle his neck, while his would be around her waist, thus creating a lovers' scene. The biggest problem would be with her face. She had to show the love she had for Ryu. She looked down to her senpai and concentrated. He was Ryu. He was the man she loved. He was the only one for her. She would do anything for him. A vein popped out on her temple. She remembered the time when she used to think that about Sho. Her little Kyouko-grudges surfaced, and her face became scary.

The director nged her before she even tried to act. "Kyouko-chan, that's not the face of a lover. It rather looks like the one of a murderer..."

"Ah, sorry, Director! Could I please do it again?" The man chuckled.

"Yeah, sure, we haven't even started to film."

Kyouko sighed in relief. And then pushed Sho out of her mind, for fear she wouldn't be able to do her job. She looked back at her senpai, hoping he couldn't read her mind. When she saw her fake gentleman's smile, she gulped. Yes, he could read her mind. And he was down-right pissed, too. She cowered in fear. 'Oh what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do... How can I act like his lover?'

Ren seemed to understand what she was thinking, because he changed his false smile and called out to her. "Think about our training sessions, _Kyouko-chan._"

At that, both Yashiro and Kyouko blushed. 'W-What training session?' Yashiro thought. To him, it looked like Ren suggested they had done immoral things together.

Kyouko blushed because of the way he had called her. Coming from his mouth, it sounded weird. And he had said it the way a lover would call his partner, too. He really was trying to help her. She smiled a bit at him. "Thank you, Tsuruga-san." She took a deep breath, and said that she was ready for the take.

When she jumped, she was full of thankful thoughts for the man who was below her. She looked at him, a really tender expression on her face. However, when she saw his dazzling smile, she forgot all about extending her arms to him. When they fell on the mattress, the director nged them. "Kyouko-chan, you forgot to pull your arms around him!"

Kyouko got up, horror-struck. "I'm so sorry! Please, let me do it again!" She bowed deeply.

"Alright. And try to show a bit more your love than your gratefulness."

"Hai!"

However, a bit later, she was still being nged. Now she was slightly panting, and doing a dogeza in front of the director and Ren.

"Kyouko-chan, I want you to take a good break. You're running out of energy. I'm sorry I made you jump so many times without taking a pause. Ren-kun, you need one too." The director said with a worried face. He had forgotten that the jump was taking a lot of energy out of the poor girl. He helped Kyouko stand up again, while the stunt-man approached Ren. He talked to him in a low voice, then the actor nodded and followed him.

When they were in the dressing room, Ren let out a small sigh and fell on a chair.

"A bit drained, eh?" The stunt-man said, while searching for something in his bag.

"Well, I'd never thought that falling on a mattress would be so tiring." Ren admitted.

"I bet your back aches a lot now. You may be a good actor, but you can't fool a professional's eyes. I saw the way you got up. You're trying to avoid using your back." Ren chuckled.

"Okay, I confess. It hurts a bit."

"Ah, found it. Here" The man handed a tube to Ren. "Ask someone to put this on your back tonight, and you won't feel anything tomorrow. But don't forget to put it! And I think you could do with a massage, too. I'm sure you'll find a pretty girl that will be willing to help you..." He winked at him. Ren smiled at him. "Thank you for your kind advice. I think we should get going."

Both of them got back to the set, where they found a depressed Kyouko. Yashiro was trying to help her get in a better mood, but he was failing miserably. When he saw Ren approach, he tapped on his shoulder, saying "go do your job, man." Ren frowned at him, wondering what he meant by that. He shrugged. Whatever it was, now was not the time to think about it. He could clearly see that Kyouko was sinking, and he had to help her. He seated himself next to her.

"Mogami-san... Look at me, please."

She did as asked, and he could see that she was completely panicked.

"I-I'm sooo sorry, Tsuruga-san... I'm not worth working with you, I'm-..."

"Stop it right now." He ordered her. "Putting more blame on you won't help you act better. Now take a deep breath and clear your mind." He waited for her to do so, and then, when she opened her eyes again, he continued. "Good. Now tell me. Is there anyone that you would want to see so much that you want to throw yourself at them and never let go?"

Kyouko pondered on that a bit, then her face slowly lit up. "Yes, there is one." She began to smile sweetly. Ren smiled back at her. "That's good. Now you just have to imagine that I am this person and throw yourself at me from the platform. Alright?"

"Okay!" Kyouko was brimming with happiness now. She looked at her senpai, and smiled even brighter. "It's really easy to imagine it, too."

"What is, Mogami-san?" She jiggled.

"Imagining that you are Corn. You are as sweet as he is."

Ren froze. How was he supposed to take this comment? 'Well, it doesn't matter', he thought, as he saw Kyouko bow in front of the director and then go to the platform. He followed her to the set, a true an honest smile on his lips. Even if 'Corn' was more her invention than a real person, it still was him in the end... And that was enough to make him happy.

A few minutes later, the director called it a wrap, and everyone began to pack up things. Ren was still looking at the video they'd just taken when Yashiro called for him. He couldn't detach his gaze from her face. She was literally shining when she fell. And when she outstretched her arms to him, he could almost hear her jiggle again. It was no wonder he had been able to show such a bright smile with her acting like that. He had been completely entranced by her acting. The director was super-excited. This would be the best drama of the year, he kept saying to whoever would listen to him.

"Ren, your face!" Yashiro said, when he finally found his charge.

"Huh?" The actor looked at a small mirror that his manager presented him, before cursing under his breath. He quickly recomposed his face, before turning back to Yashiro.

"Thank you." Yashiro sighed.

"No problem. But you'll have to be very careful if you don't want anyone to find out your secret crush. You're slipping more and more lately. Now, let's go before Kyouko-chan go home on her own!"

Ren numbly followed his manager, unable to get his thoughts together. All he could think of was of Kyouko's beautiful face when she fell on him. She really had looked like an angel falling from the sky...

* * *

**There! I hope you liked it! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what I could improve, and what I shouldn't,... All in all, tell me what you think about it!**


	6. Chapter 6 : For the sake of love part2

**Hello! I know I'm pretty late with my update, but I really have troubles with the thing called inspiration. It's not that I don't have any ideas (on the contrary, I have plenty), it's on how to write them I'm having a hard time. If I'm not in the right mood, I can't write, and the right mood don't come easily. I'll try do work harder to update quicker. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

**EDIT: I keep forgetting that thing : disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Nakamura-sensei does.  
**

Chapter 6 : For the sake of love (part 2)

Back to Ren's dressing room, Yashiro noticed the tube on the table.

"What's that?" He asked his charge.

"Oh, it's just a cream that Chiba-san gave me."

"Chiba-san? You mean the stunt-man that helped you today?" Ren nodded. "Why? Are you hurt somewhere?" At that Ren stayed silent. To tell Yashiro would equal to trouble. But if he didn't tell him, he would pester him until he can't bear it anymore. He sighed, before confessing : "yes, my back aches a bit. But it's nothing serious, though. I just have to apply the lotion tonight on my back and tomorrow I'll be fine."

Yashiro sighed. "You know you could have asked for a pause between the takes... I'm sure Kyouko-chan would have understood."

"Yes, she would have, and she would have thought that it was her fault, too, that I'm hurt."

"You're right, I hadn't thought about it that way..." Yashiro then smiled. "So I guess it's prohibited to tell her anything about it, isn't it?"

"Yes, I would appreciate tha-..."

WHAM!

"Tsuruga-san! Is it true?" Kyouko exclaimed, barging in without even announcing herself. Both men looked at her, startled.

"What is true, Mogami-san?" Ren asked her, shock well hidden behind his mask. 'Speak about the devil...'

"That you've hurt your back when we were filming?" Her face was torn with guilt, and her eyes were all teary.

"Who told you that?" Now Ren didn't really need to ask. He remembered the comment the stunt-man had made about pretty girls willing to help him. 'I guess he wanted to make sure...'

"C-Chiba-san did... So you really are hurt, don't you?" Now the tears were flowing out of her, and started to make a pound around the girl. Ren sighed. There was no stopping her now, so he might as well tell her it was nothing. He reached out to her, and tried to console her while she kept apologizing to him. What he didn't see was the slight smirk that began to grow on his manager's lips.

"Kyouko-chan... it's no use trying to apologize now that the deed's done. There's nothing you can do about it now." Yashiro paused savoring in advance his next words. He superbly ignored the warning glare Ren sent him, and then continued. "Oh, but... Now that I think about it, there IS something you can do for him..."

Kyouko looked at the man, as if he was the hand of salvation. "Is it true? Is there really something that I can do to make up for Tsuruga-san's injury?"

Yashiro sweetly smiled at the girl. "Would you want to do it?"

"Of course! Whatever it is, just tell me, and I'll gladly do it!"

"Gladly do it, eh?" Yashiro smirked at Ren (who shook his head in horror), then took the tube from the table and put it in her hands.

"Then I'll leave it to you. Thank you so much for taking care of Ren in my place, Kyouko-chan, since I can't be with him tonight. You'll help him, right?"

"Er, yes, I guess, but what am I supposed to do with this?" She pointed to the tube, not knowing what it was.

"Put it on Ren's back, of course! And I think a little massage would be good too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a very important appointment to go to... See you!" And with that he left the room, leaving a very angry man and a dumbfounded girl behind. It was only when the door closed that it clicked in her mind.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH?"

…...

Moments later, Kyouko found herself in Ren's apartment, a tube of cream in her hands, waiting in front of his bedroom.

After he had tried to persuade her that she really didn't have to do as Yashiro said, and after she had firmly stood on her grounds and said she'd take responsibility for her actions, they had headed to Ren's house in a heavy silence. Of course, she thought, her senpai would be mad at her for making them redo the scene so many times. And of course he wouldn't want her help, because she was such an unreliable kouhai. But she would prove him wrong, no matter what. So when he had told her to wait in the living room while he took a shower (that was after diner), she was determined to do her best in helping her senpai.

Meanwhile, Ren was taking a very cold shower. How did things lead to this dreadful situation? He knew he wouldn't do anything to the girl, but that would take all the self-control he could muster. 'Damn that sneaky manager!' He thought. 'If only he hadn't presented things in that way! Now I can't get rid of her until she's completed her task.' He stopped the water. 'Might as well end this quickly...'

When he opened the door, he was only wearing black pants, and was still drying his hair with a white towel. At this sight, Kyouko couldn't help but blush. That gave Ren an idea. 'If I can frighten her enough to leave and never act this reckless again...' He slowly turned himself into the Emperor of the Night and smiled at her. "Now, Mogami-san, please enter..." 'HELL!' Kyouko silently completed. She was thinking of backing away. She simply couldn't handle this guy! And now she truly realized what it meant to massage a man. It had something to do with skin to skin contact, and the fact that the man was... Bloody. Half. Naked!

"You're not thinking of running away, are you?" Ren whispered in a husky voice. He wouldn't let her go home, not when he hadn't really started to frighten her.

"N-No! Of course not! I will dutifully complete my mission to help my senpai!" And with that she stepped into the room. Ren nonchalantly sat on his bed and gestured her to come near him. Gulping, she went to him, and started stuttering.

"T-Tsuruga-san..."

"Hm?"

"I-I think that you should just... lie down on your stomach... That way the m-massage would be more effective... I think."

"Oh, right." He smoothly did as he was told, and Kyouko forced her trembling hands to touch his back. She directly went for his spine, right in the middle. "Are you hurt here?" She timidly asked.

"No, it's lower." She descended her hands.

"There?"

"Lower." Kyouko gulped. Her hands were now right above his pants.

"There?" She knew she wouldn't be able to go lower, and she hoped he wouldn't make her.

"Yes, it's there." 'Safe...' She thought, then put some cream in her hands before she applied it where it hurt. She did it again a few times, until she was certain that his skin had absorbed enough of the product to heal. She then began massaging his shoulders. Her blush was spreading to her chin, as she leaned towards him a bit more, her breasts brushing lightly against his back.

Ren did his best not to groan out loud. However, he couldn't help but stiffen, and he was sure Kyouko could sense that.

"Hum, Tsuruga-san, you must relax." She pressed on his left shoulder, trying to put the muscles at ease. 'Easy for you to say', Ren thought, 'how can I relax when you're this close to me?'

Kyouko worked on his shoulders until she felt his muscles finally relax. She processed with his blade shoulders, then went lower, very careful not to hurt him in any way.

It wasn't until much later that she suddenly realized she wasn't massaging Ren anymore, and rather was caressing him. As if burnt, she immediately removed her hands.

"I-I'm done Tsuruga-san. I'll be leaving, then." She got up then bowed deeply before heading to the door.

"If you could wait just a minute, I'll drive you home." Ren started to look for a shirt, but she stopped him.

"No, no, thank you for the offer though. I'll walk, it's good for my body. I still have to fit Natsu's image." 'And I really need some fresh air to cool my head off,' she added in her mind.

Reluctantly, her senpai let her do as she wished, but not without the promise that she would call when she arrived at home. That made her smile. Ren still thought she was a child and was so protective of her! That was sweet of him.

"Good night, then, Tsuruga-san."

"Take care, Mogami-san... And don't forget about the call you promised me. If you do, I'll go look for you, okay?" He really didn't like the idea that she wouldn't be taking her bike (she hadn't needed it today, and she didn't think that she would go to his house, which was a bit far from the Darumaya). Usually he would drive her home, that was the safest way.

"Hai, hai..."

And with that she left, a grin sprawled across her features.

On the way home, she had time to think about what happened in his room. It was normal that she had felt embarrassed, but should she really have enjoyed it? Because she had, that was for sure. The weird feeling of contentment that she had when she finally got to make Ren's body relax under her hands was still inside her, and she was sure she wouldn't forget what it felt like to touch his bare skin. Her hands still remembered the lines in his back, and the softness of it all.

If it was only about this lingering feeling, she could stop thinking about it already. But there was something else that really bothered her. It was as if she had lost something. And she feared that it was his warmth that she missed. When she had touched him, when she was almost lying on him, she had felt the warmth that emanated from his body, and she had liked it. A bit too much, she'd say.

Kyouko sighed. So much for preventing body contacts! Now she felt more drawn to him than ever. But she could fight it. After all, it was only attraction, so she wasn't in danger of falling in love.

She sighed again. Damn his enormous sex appeal!

…...

Days later, Kyouko was happily walking towards her dressing room. Today was a busy day : this morning she would film Box-R, then she had a small break before going to the set of her commercial, which would last until late at night because they were to wrap it by today. After that, she would have to examine other job propositions that Sawara-san gave her, because she would have free time on her hands, having only Box-R and DYFS on schedule.

Suddenly, she shuddered. Frightened, she turned around and sniffed the air, only to see no one was there. But she knew this feeling. And soon, she felt someone breathing on her neck. She jumped high, earning a smirk from the intruder.

"YOU! I knew you were there, your evil aura is far too recognizable!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Reino, who was standing beside her.

"Hello, Kyouko... it's been a while."

"What the hell are you doing here?" She spat, while putting herself in a defensive stance.

Reino smiled. "I was recording nearby when I caught a glimpse of you. I thought I'd stop by and say hi."

Kyouko was fuming. How dared he show himself in front of her so early in the morning? Wasn't he supposed to only wake up late?

She had a very big frown on her face, and Reino was able to guess her thoughts. Of course, he wouldn't tell her that he was now trying (and didn't always succeed, too) to get to work early, in order to create encounters such as that one now. That way he could see his love interest more often (in Kyouko's mind, no doubt this was only a purpose to torture her more often). After all, even if the chances were slim, it was worth trying, since they were in the same working industry.

"Okay, now that you've said hi, go away!" Kyouko began to walk away, but Reino wouldn't miss this opportunity to mess with her mind.

"Wait, I have something to say to you." That made her stop. Inwardly, Reino thought that she was really naïve. What if he still wanted to harm her? She should have fled the instant she saw him. Or rather, _smelled_ him.

"Spill it, I don't have much time to waste on you."

'Oh, she's rather harsh. That won't be easy.' He thought. "Did you throw away that stone?"

Kyouko put her hand defensively around her bag, the action answering for her. "Of course not, you nuts! This is my precious treasure, I will never throw it away!"

"Alright, then give it to me." Seeing her bulging eyes, he added. "For a short amount of time, of course! I'll give it back, but first, let me exorcise it, idiot! If you don't, then the consequences could be dreadful."

"Never! And why are you so interested in my stuff, anyway? You won't harm Shou by using me, so why are you still bothering me?"

Reino paused. 'Might as well go straight to the point, or else she'll never get it.' "That's because I care about you, of course. I am interested in you."

Kyouko's jaw fell open. What nonsense was this man sprouting?

"You... care about me. You are... interested in me. Are you sick, or is it that you want me to do something for you that requires me to be healthy?" She asked, suspicious.

'Wow, it's worse than I thought' Reino mused. "Okay, I'm going to be more precise. I am _romantically_ interested in you. As in, a love interest. I want you and me to go out and share a lover's relationship." 'There, it should be clear enough.'

Now that left her speechless. Him, romantically interested in her? What was the world coming to? She quickly regained her composure. "B-But... that's impossible... Why would you want such a thing?"

Reino sighed. So he really had to spell it for her... "Because I like you?"

"But why?" She asked, clearly confused.

"Kyouko, is it so hard for you to believe that you can be attractive to a man?" She unconsciously nodded, remembering Shou's unflattering words about her. Reino shrugged. "Then what are you doing in this industry, if you're persuaded that you can't be loved?"

His words hit her hard. They found an echo inside her mind, as the President's voice resurfaced. _"Mogami-kun, if you want this movie to be a success, you'll have to change your ways of thinking. Your character, Eri, is bound to be loved by the public. In other words, you're expected to be loved by lots of unknown people. Moreover, you're supposed to show you beautiful love towards Ryu. If you want to achieve that, you MUST stop thinking that you can't be loved. You have to be as attractive as Eri is supposed to be or else the director wouldn't have chosen you, so get a grip on yourself and start noticing the way some men treat you, already!"_ Of course, he was talking about one precise man at the time, but Kyouko didn't know that.

After a long pause in which Reino tried many times to wake her from, Kyouko finally came back to her senses. "I can be... attractive?" She asked, unsure.

"That's what I've been telling you." He could almost see the conclusion being made in her mind, thanks to her expressive figure.

"I'm not a plain and boring woman?" Looked like she had a hard time believing it.

"In my opinion, you're the first interesting living woman I've met." Had her 'love circuit' finally reconnected? He was about to add something to definitely convince her when he saw something he had never seen on her before. THAT smile rendered him speechless.

"That means... I'm worth being loved? People can like me?" She looked so innocent, so pure, that Reino felt very weak. How could this girl be so dark and yet so... so bright at the same time? She was spreading her brightness around her, chasing away her vengeful spirits. Reino couldn't help but be be drawn to the warmth emanating from her aura. He had never felt so-... wait, what was happening? Why was her face becoming so scary suddenly? God, it was creepy how she could change her aura this quickly, from angelic to demonic in less than a second.

"Heh..." Kyouko smiled evilly. "You almost got me there... You liking me doesn't mean that normal people would. I should even worry about the fact that you find me fit to be your girlfriend... I'll never be yours, denizen of Hell!"

Reino frowned. That wasn't the reaction he would have expected. "How rude, I'm not one of the-..."

"Reino! Here you are! I've been looking for you all over the place! Did you forget that we've got work to do? Oh, hello Kyouko-chan." Miroku said when he recognized who his friend was with. 'That explains everything...'

"Good morning, Beagle n°2-san." Kyouko said, a defiant look on her face. Miroku stared at her, surprised. 'Beagle n°2... san? Is that supposed to be me?'

"And..." She continued, staring directly into Reino's eyes. "Goodbye, I hope this one will be the last encounter between us." And with that, she went past them, hurrying to her job.

"What a woman, really..." Whispered Miroku, while his friend was already plotting a way to see the girl again by 'chance'.

On her way to the set of Box-R, Kyouko had time to think about the strange (and dangerous!) encounter. It took her a while, but she finally admitted that the jerk was really interested in her. Certainly, this was because of her dark side, but still, someone was _romantically_ interested in her, and that was a rather disturbing information. She shrugged. Now was not the time to think about that. She had to be in Natsu mode pretty soon, and she wouldn't tolerate that her work suffer from anything related to the Beagle.

The day went by without many problems, with a few NG's here and there, but nothing to really worry about. Or at least, not until she got cornered by a very daring Kijima right after their work.

"Kyouko-chan, if I didn't know better, I could have sworn that you're avoiding spending time alone with me. You refused at least three propositions to dinner, and now that this commercial is over, you don't even want to celebrate with me. Is my company that bothersome to you?"

He had caught her in a dark corridor (she hadn't switched on the lights with the sole purpose of avoiding him), and had both his hands on the wall behind her, surrounding her body, leaving her no escape route. She estimated her chances of running away without being too rude. There was none.

"Of course not, Kijima-san. But I really need to go, now, so please... could you let me go?" Kyouko said, without once looking at him straight in the eyes.

The man sighed. "Does that mean that I don't stand a chance with you, then?"

"Er... I don't know what you're talking about." He softly laughed.

"That's a cruel joke, Kyouko-chan." When he saw that she wasn't joking, he could only stare at her in disbelief. "Come on, I've been after you for a while now, and you still don't know what it is that I want? Have you never been courted before?" He asked, bewildered.

"Courted?" Kyouko frowned. "As in, a man trying to win the favors of the girl he likes? Surely, you wouldn't mean that..."

Kijima chuckled. "That's exactly what I mean. I like you, Kyouko-chan. I've been trying these past weeks to make you go out with me, but I didn't get a single hint of success so far. Are you impermeable to a man's charms?"

"I... I'm so sorry... I didn't know you were feeling that way... I honestly thought that you were only practicing on me..." She cast her eyes down, ashamed of herself. If she had known of his feelings, she would have tried to stop him instead of fleeing. But the fact that a man (and not a denizen of Hell, mind you) could like her came as a big surprise to her. Add in Reino's earlier confession, and you get a completely confused Kyouko, not so sure anymore about anything.

"It's okay, Kyouko-chan, I recognize a lost battle when I see one. But I wonder who'll be the lucky guy that will be able to melt you heart..." He gently caressed her cheek, then dropped his hand near hers. "So... still friends?" Kyouko shyly took his hand.

"Y-Yes... friends..." However, she had only began to shake his hand when a loud voice came from the entrance of the corridor.

"Mogami-san? Is that you there?" Kyouko jumped miles away from Kijima and turned her eyes towards the tall silhouette a few feet from them.

Kijima switched on the lights, revealing a smiling Tsuruga Ren. A very brightly smiling Tsuruga Ren.

Kyouko gulped. "G-Good evening, Tsuruga-san." Kijima returned Ren's smile with one of his own.

"Hello, Ren. Still working at this hour?"

Ren reached them, smiling even more. That made Kyouko cower in fear.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I just finished my job, and I was on my way to go home, when I heard voices in a dark corridor. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, but when I recognized Mogami-san's voice, I was worried that she'd be in trouble." He gently took Kyouko from Kijima, so that she now was by HIS side. "You see, Kijima, she's my kouhai, so I keep an eye on her, making sure she's safe. That's why I'll be taking her home tonight. If that's alright with you, Mogami-san."

The dazzling smile was still on, and Kyouko couldn't help but comply, hoping she would still be alive by the time she was home.

They parted from Kijima (a bit too quickly from his point of view) and headed straight for the parking lot. The left alone actor sighed. Although Ren had been smiling, he clearly got the message : _don't touch her, she's mine_. That was as clear as crystal.

The ride home seemed to never end in Kyouko's mind. The anger she felt from Ren's seat was pouring in a incessant, furious stream. He was silent and his face didn't betray any emotion, but she felt like he was yelling at her. Finally, a sigh escaped his lips. She cringed. Here comes the harsh scolding!

"Mogami-san?"

"Y-Yes, Tsuruga-san?"

"Did you have any idea of the danger you could have been in back there?" At that she frowned. Danger? What kind of danger?

"Er... what do you mean, Tsuruga-san?" Ren sighed again, easing the atmosphere a bit. He softly smiled at her.

"You're too naïve, Mogami-san. What do you think could happen to a woman in a dark place, with only a man obviously interested in her by her side?"

"Interested in..." Kyouko gasped. "H-How did you know about that? He only told me about it tonight!"

Ren darkly chuckled. "I said it was obvious, didn't I? Except you, I doubt anyone hadn't noticed the way he looked at you. I noticed, and I wasn't even working with you two. But..." And then the atmosphere heaved again, "what on earth were you thinking to go alone in a dark corridor with him? Aren't you conscious of the fact that you could have damaged your image? Rumors spread easily in our world, I thought you knew that much."

Kyouko cringed again, but this time, it was because of the disappointed tone in his voice. She didn't want to disappoint her senpai...

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san. I'll never do that again, but would you believe me if I told you that I didn't know he was following me until he cornered me?"

Ren felt relieved. So it had been the other way around, eh... He was the one that had followed her. He smiled at his kouhai. "Of course, I believe you. Just... be careful next time, okay?" It was not as if there would be a next time. Ren was sure Kijima had got his message when he had interrupted them. If he still didn't back of, then... he would have to have a nice long talk with the man.

"Hai!"

"Here you are, Mogami-san. Goodnight."

"Goodnight to you too, Tsuruga-san. Thank you for the ride... and for everything you've done for me, I'm very grateful to have such a good senpai." She bowed and entered the Darumaya.

Ren released a very heavy sigh. He didn't improve his situation at all... Well, he'd rather play the role of senpai than seeing her with another man and do nothing.

* * *

**Done! I'll try to update soon, but the best way to ensure that is to give me reviews, so that I know what you all think about it, and really, they always cheer me up!**


	7. Chapter 7 : A trip to the beach!

**Hello! Thank you all for your reviews! The more I get, the more fired up and quick I am to write a new chapter! I think I've just broken a new record of mine by updating this soon. I suppose that's a good change, instead of waiting months for a darn chapter!**

**Before I forget, here is the :**

**DISCLAIMER : I don't own Skip Beat!, but I'm proud to say that DYFS is mine ^^ (it might be the first time I actually post a chapter without needing to edit it because I forgot the disclaimer :p)  
**

Chapter 7 : A trip to the beach!

Kyouko couldn't believe her luck: they were going to film at the beach! The part they were about to shoot was a bit far in the story: Ryu was opening himself to Eri, and she wanted to help him see life in another light. Thus, she had researched on the internet (Ryu had a hard time explaining things to her, and she somehow succeeded in learning lots of things about humans) about what would make them happy, and she had discovered that there were a few things that worked well: going on a vacation, eating good food, and falling in love. She had opted for the first one, and so she had convinced him to go to the beach.

Kyouko dreamily sighed. The beach... That was a place she'd always wanted to go. She was happily packing (the cast was supposed to meet the following morning to depart), but then, a thought occurred her. She was going to the sea... and she didn't have a bathing suit! She shrugged. She'd just have to buy one at one of the nearby stores when she'd have time. But still, she didn't feel completely prepared, and she spent a rather agitated night.

…...

"Look, Kyouko-chan! It's the sea!"

"Where, where?" Kyouko looked around, until her eyes met the sparkling blue of the sea. They were in the bus that was transporting them to Shirahama (they had flown from Tokyo to Osaka, and then had taken the bus). "Whaaaa, it's the sea! Satsuki-san, it's the sea!"

Hondou Satsuki-san was Kyouko's hair and make up artist for the DYFS project, and the two girls had got along really well together. Satsuki was always cheerful, and sometimes acted like a spoiled child, but she was a really nice person. She was as much excited as Kyouko to see the sea. She was also completely crazy about clothes, Kyouko had discovered when she had talked about her lack of swimsuit. The woman had then excitedly suggested (or rather, forced Kyouko to agree) that they would buy one right after they got off the bus. Kyouko had barely restrained her from doing so, and they had decided that they would wait until they were settled in the hotel they were staying at.

When they finally arrived, it was pretty late, so the two girls hurried to the nearer store, since they would only start shooting the following day.

Kyouko soon found out that Satsuki-san was not only crazy about clothes, but also frightening. She wouldn't let her off the hook with a plain swimsuit. She made her try on very fluffy ones, cute ones, sexy ones, and couldn't help but squeal each time Kyouko showed her how she looked in them. After a very long session of parading in more swimsuits that Kyouko could count, Satsuki-san finally settled for a red bikini, with orange flowers on it. There were simple but nice knots on the chest and the hips, plus one behind the neck (this one was the only one that was supposed to be used. The rest was pure decoration).

Of course, Satsuki-san bought one for her too, but she didn't waste any time looking for it. She just laid an eye on a white and blue bikini (the shape looked similar to Kyouko's), and decided on it without even trying it on. They both bought matching pareo with their swimsuit, and went out of the store.

"Kyouko-chan, the weather is still pretty nice, wanna go for a quick dive?" Satsuki-san asked the girl once outside.

"It's a really good idea, Satsuki-san! Why don't we go change at the hotel, then come back? That way we could inform the director of our whereabouts in case something comes up." Kyouko suggested.

"In case something comes up? Are you worried that something bad might happen to us?" Satsuki-san asked, a bit surprised. Kyouko quickly shook her head.

"No, no, of course not! Er... I guess I'm not really used to be to some place I don't know..."

"Don't worry, I've been around here once, so we won't get lost!" Smiled the woman, while thinking about how cute and innocent the girl seemed to be.

Kyouko however hid a sigh. She had almost let slip something about the stalker incident. Since then, she had been very cautious, and always notified to someone if she were to go somewhere alone.

Half an hour later found the two girls happily playing in the water. The hotel had lent them a balloon, which had caused both of them to really enjoy themselves. Kyouko had burst out laughing when Satsuki-san had tried to catch the ball and fallen flat on her back with a loud splash. The girl had looked so pitiful with her hair down, glued to her face, that Kyouko really couldn't help it. In retaliation, Satsuki-san had drowned her. Ensued a battle of who would drown the other more, and the ball was left to drift away without them noticing.

When they did, it was already too late to retrieve it, and that put an end to Kyouko's happiness.

"Whaaa! What will they say! The hotel kindly let us borrow it and I repay this kindness by losing the ball!" She wailed on the way back to the hotel.

"Kyouko-chan, you won't bear this alone! I'm at fault, too, so we'll take responsibility together." Satsuki-san said, her face as solemn as a stone.

"What did you two do to have such unhappy faces?" Both girls turned around to see one Tsuruga Ren standing behind them.

"Oh, Tsuruga-kun, you're here already? I thought you couldn't come until tomorrow?" Asked a suddenly smiling Satsuki. Both girls bowed to the man, Kyouko lowering her head more than usual. 'Crap, I bet he's going to scold me for that, too', she thought.

"Well, it seems that I could finish my work earlier, so I came here." Ren smiled back to her, before turning to his kouhai. "So, what's the matter? What's the so terrible thing you did that you'll both take responsibility for it?"

"Er... We, hum... We lost the balloon that the kind people at the hotel lent us." Kyouko said in a very small voice.

"Was that a special balloon?"

Satsuki answered before Kyouko. "I don't think so..."

"Then I think that an apology and the promise to replace the ball will be enough to be forgiven. There's no need for you two to get so worked up over such a small thing."

Satsuki looked at Ren with stars in her eyes. "Yes, you're right, Tsuruga-kun! Thank you for making us realise this! Then we'll be going to just do what you said! Have a nice evening!" She bowed to him, and before Kyouko could even utter a word, she took her with her and walked towards the entrance of the hotel.

Once they were out of Ren's ears, Satsuki excitedly turned to Kyouko. "He's so cool!"

"Huh?" Kyouko looked at her, rather dumbfounded. "Who...?"

"Tsuruga-kun, of course!" She singsonged. "This body, this voice... and his kindness! No wonder he's so popular among girls! Aaah, how I wish I could be in your place, Kyouko-chan! Playing against him must really be thrilling! And in a romance drama, too! Lucky!"

"Hum, I guess I am lucky. It's not everyday you get to play against the most skilled actor of Japan... But somehow, it's a bit intimidating, too, for a rookie such as myself."

Satsuki paused, looking at her friend in wonder. "A rookie, huh? Kyouko-chan, I don't think that you can be called a rookie any more. Sure, you've been in this industry for less than two years, but since you've been in all of those popular dramas and commercials, it only means that you're as talented as a full fledged actress. I mean, which rookie could possibly star in a drama opposite Japan's biggest actor? You've got to have a better opinion of yourself, Kyouko-chan." She smiled, before adding something more.

"Besides, I think you've caught a certain someone's eye already... Don't you see the way he looks at you, sometimes? That's something else to be jealous of..." At that, Kyouko blushed.

"Eh? No way! What are you talking about, Satsuki-san? I couldn't possibly catch anyone's eye in THAT way, because I'm way too pl-..." But she didn't finish her sentence, remembering her previous discoveries about how some men could see her. "I mean," she tried again, "apart from Tsuruga-san – who is my senpai as well as my co-worker in this case –, I'm not even close to any guy! So how could have I attracted their attention?"

Satsuki stared at her. 'Is she really that dense?' Seeing at how Kyouko hadn't even thought about the man in question being Tsuruga-kun, she supposed that the answer was yes. She shrugged.

"Oh, well, if you haven't noticed, then I suppose it's not my place to tell..." 'Though, I pity the poor man, as I suspect he's been at it for a while...' she added silently, while listening to the abnegations her friend was sprouting.

The following day, Kyouko was torn between the desire to run to the sea and drown in it, and to dig a hole right there right then and bury herself in it. There was simply no way she could muster the guts to play that scene.

It was nearly lunch time, and the director had decided that they would shoot a part that involved Eri choosing a swimsuit. Of course, Ryu had to accompany her, and things wouldn't go smoothly, seeing as Eri didn't have a single clue as to why she had to put clothes on when she was supposed to go into the water. What was the point of getting them wet?

If it was only about saying her doubts, Kyouko would just be fine with it. But _of course_ she had to act Eri's sceptical view on the matter, by tugging at the material, whining about the stupidity of it all, and choosing to minimize the effort of drying the cloth by trying on the least covering piece of swimsuit Kyouko had ever seen. All that while showing it wasn't a big deal.

But to Kyouko, it WAS a big deal. A very big one at that. Parading in sexy clothes in front of Satsuki-san was one thing, but parading with almost _nothing_ on in front of a camera AND Tsuruga-san was a whole other matter. Of course, Ryu would make Eri wear something more appropriate, but first she had to show up in that... that poor excuse of a cloth!

Wailing, Kyouko quickly reached for her phone (she had a ten minutes break before the dreading scene), and called the only person that could give her the strength to accomplish her job.

"Moshi moshi... Moko-san?"

"Ah, it's you. What do you want, this time?"

"MOKO-SAAAAN! I'm doomed! I'm going to dieeeeeeeeee! Please, save me!"

"..."

And then the line was cut off. Yelping, Kyouko quickly redialled Kanae's number.

"MO, if you're going to just wail without explaining anything, I'm hanging up!"

…...

Once the shoot was done and okayed, Kyouko slumped in a chair, trying to catch her breath. Her face was so hot! She had got 5 Ngs, and had needed some ice to cool her burning cheeks more than once. It wasn't fair, she thought. Tsuruga-san had been able to completely stay in character, since he was supposed to act like a normally _embarrassed_ man. He could blush all he wanted, it even was what the director was looking for. But Kyouko... She couldn't blush, because Eri didn't know what she was doing. For her people, going in the water naked, even around guys, was a normal thing to do. So why should she be embarrassed to be seen (barely) naked by a man? See how it was unfair?

"Mogami-san?"

Kyouko raised her head. And then lowered it again.

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san, for making you do such a simple scene so many times." Ren sat in the chair next to her, and sighed.

"I don't think it was an easy scene to do. It takes a lot of courage and self-control to complete it. And the more you try, the harder it is, I think. May I ask how you managed not to blush the sixth time?"

"Er... I don't think that's a good idea..." Kyouko's cheeks got even redder, if possible.

"Why?" Ren was curious. For the last take, the girl had managed to make her blush completely disappear and had really looked like she was bored to death.

"Hum... because it's not very... flattering..."

"Not flattering? For me?" Kyouko could only nod.

"Please, Mogami-san. I promise not to get angry." Kyouko sighed. Why did he have to be so curious about it?

"I... imagined that we both were octopuses, so that showing you a swimsuit was really as ridiculous as Eri seems to think."

Ren stared at her. Then his shoulders started shaking. He hid his face behind his hands, and tried to muffle his snickers. Octopus! She had imagined he was an octopus! That was something quite unexpected. He tried to stop himself, but really couldn't: he burst out laughing.

"I'm... pffff... I'm so-hahaha... I'm sorry, Mo-pfff... Mogami-san! I know I shouldn't be laughing... Here. Let me calm down for a minute." A few seconds passed, before he burst out laughing again, with muffles of 'octupus' in between his laughs.

Kyouko stood up, apparently aggravated with the man's behaviour. With a loud huff, she walked towards her dressing room with all the dignity she could muster. Which wasn't a lot, as it had been pretty much killed by Ren's growing laughter. The nerve!

That incident had at least made something clear to the witnessing people of the cast. The actor and his kouhai were very close to each other, in a way that would cause gossip to grow at a sky-rocketing speed.

To apologize to the girl, Ren had followed Yashiro's advice, and invited her to dinner. He was shot down mercilessly as Kyouko had already planned to go eat with Satsuki-san in one of those restaurants that were close to the beach. After a lot of persuasive words and pleas ("Mogami-san, please, would you let me apologise properly already? I really want to invite you – the both of you – to dinner, wherever you want to dine, so please, open the door!"), it had been decided that the four of them (Satsuki-san, Yashiro, Ren and Kyouko) would eat in a small but cosy restaurant that had a view of the beach and was a bit far from the hotel. Satsuki had outdone herself with Kyouko's outfit and make-up. The girl looked really mature, and the dress (although a casual one) fitted her perfectly. The only thing she was having trouble with was the heels, so she had to rely on Natsu's walking attitude if she wanted not to make a fool out of herself. Satsuki-san herself looked pretty good in her suit. She almost squealed when she saw the two men waiting at the entrance of the hotel for them. "Gorgeous!" She whispered to her silent companion, as they approached their dates.

"Tsuruga-kun, Yashiro-san, you look great!" Satsuki enthusiastically said.

"Thank you... Hondou-san, is it?" Answered Yashiro. "You and Kyouko-chan look lovely!"

"Thank you! But call me Satsuki!"

"If it's all right with you, then, Satsuki-san..." They went ahead of the road (they had to walk a bit to reach their destination), while the two actors stayed behind, one clearly thinking that her shoes were the most interesting thing in the world, the other unable to decide whether he was happy or angry at Kyouko's outfit. On the one hand, it really fitted her, but on the other hand... She would attract too much attention from unwanted sources (or, in other words, men). Finally, Ren decided to break the silence.

"It is a nice outfit you have here." Kyouko lit up at the mention of her clothes.

"Yeah, I think so too! It's Satsuki-san's. But... I don't think it suits me really well... I mean, don't I look weird?" She opened her arms to let him see the outfit better. "If Moko-san had been wearing it, I guess she would have looked splendid, but I just can't..."

"You're wrong." Ren interrupted her. "Let me correct my previous statement: you look stunning in that outfit."

His smile almost killed her on the spot. "T-Thank you..." She muttered, her cheeks flushed. Somehow, she couldn't help but feel that he wasn't really honest. Something seemed to bother him to no end, and that something could perfectly be the young girl herself. She gulped. 'What did I do... this time?'

"Y-You look really good yourself, Tsuruga-san." She murmured, her head still lowered.

And without further ado, they caught up with the pair ahead.

…...

"Thank you so much for this diner! It was really good!" Satsuki exclaimed, after Ren had paid for the meal. Kyouko and Yashiro thanked him too, and they headed for the door. But Ren and Yashiro got intercepted by a group of men drinking at the bar. Apparently, they were acquaintances, so Kyouko and Satsuki excused themselves for a moment, promising the two men to wait at the door for them.

It was getting pretty cold outside, and Satsuki shivered. "Hum, Kyouko-chan, do you mind if we wait on this side of the road? It'll be less windy there."

"Okay."

But as soon as they got out of the entrance's view, a group of three men approached them.

"Hey there girls! What are you doing alone at this hour?" One said, a big fat smile plastered on his face.

"Surely, pretty as you two are, you don't wanna stay alone for long, do you?" Another one added. He really looked like a hoodlum, with piercing everywhere and black, spiky hair. The first man laughed. His bleached hair was half covered by a bandanna, and his clothes were ripped in lots of places. The third man, a bit fatter than the other two, chuckled in a way that made the two girls shiver.

"Of course they don't want to be alone there. Who knows what kind of bad encounter they could make? So, won't you come with us, ladies?"

"We'll protect you from the bad guys, promise."

When the two girls didn't respond, the second guy became more insistent. He took Kyouko's arm and tried to drag her with him. "Come on, let's have fun together!"

Something snapped. The man looked at his captive, surprised that the sound was coming from her.

"Who. The. Hell. Do you. Think. You. Are?" Kyouko hissed at him, yanking her arm free. She had unleashed Mio, and the dark aura around her was almost palpable. However, if acting Mio had been enough in the past to frighten some youngsters back in Tokyo, here the effect didn't seem to be the same. Rather, such anger had excited the guy, who now was whistling.

"Wha, look at that fierce face! I like that. Now come on, show me more of your dark side! It's a real turn on!" He grabbed her arm again, while another took a hold of Satsuki. The poor girl was frightened.

"No! Let us go, please!" Hearing her scared voice, Kyouko resisted harder.

"Let her go, you moronic, stupid, monkey-faced bastard!" She scratched her opponent in his face, and bit his arm.

"OUCH! That bitch! It hurts! Let me show you how I tame little bitches like yo-...!"

But the man never had time to finish his threat, because he was suddenly thrown away, falling flat on his butt.

"Ough!" The other two turned around to see their companion on the ground. They then met with a pair of eyes that held the most murdering intent they had ever seen.

"I suggest you get out of here immediately." Was the low murmur they heard from the tall man before them. The threat was as strong as his voice was low. Without a second thought, the hoodlums collected themselves and fled like the Devil himself was hot on their tail.

Ren took a big gulp of air and the tension eased. He then turned to Kyouko. "Are you alright, Mogami-san, Satsuki-san?"

Both girls nodded. Satsuki sighed out of relief, and thanked the men for coming to their rescue.

"I thought they would leave us alone when Kyouko-chan released Mio-sama, but it seems that there are people that aren't scared of her... That's a first! On the contrary, I never would have imagined that Tsuruga-kun could get so frightening with just a few words!"

Ren smiled apologetically to her. "I'm sorry to have scared you."

"Oh no, not at all! I should be the one thanking you for saving us!"

They resumed their walk quickly, and then they separated. Or at least, it was Kyouko's intention to bid the men goodnight and follow her room-mate, but it wasn't Ren's.

"Mogami-san, can I have a quick word with you in private?" He then smiled at Satsuki. "It won't be long, I promise."

"Then... I'll go ahead! Goodnight, Yashiro-san, Tsuruga-kun." The girl vanished into the elevator, along with Kyouko's hope of getting away from the terrifying actor. "I'll catch up with you later, Yashiro."

Said man eyed Ren warily, before heading to his own room. He was pretty sure that Ren was about to frighten the poor girl to death, and he was certain it wasn't what she needed most right now. He shrugged. Since he had been excluded from the conversation, surely Ren wouldn't want to hear his advice.

"Please follow me." They walked to Ren's room in absolute silence. When he closed the door, Kyouko couldn't help but compare the sound to the closing door of Hell. And she was on the wrong side of that door.

"Have a seat." Kyouko quietly did as she was told, and waited. Ren had his back to her, as he was standing on the other side of the room. The waves of anger flowing off of him didn't convince her that she would get out of here alive.

"In all honesty, I don't know who I should be more angry at. Should it be at you, who instead of trying to get help from us, tried to fight them off on your own, or... at me, for even letting you out of my sight for a moment?"

Kyouko felt ashamed and angry at the same time. Ashamed because she was a burden for her senpai, who had to watch out for her even outside of work, and angry because she really was powerless against men. She hated that she couldn't protect herself, let alone her friend. And she hated being afraid of them. It had been the same with the Beagle, though now she wasn't afraid of him, thanks to her senpai, once again.

"I'm sorry for always causing you trouble..." She softly said, her eyes carefully hidden behind her bangs. He didn't need to know that she had been so frightened that she was on the verge of crying now that the pressure was easing.

"No, that's not what I meant... After all, didn't I promise you that I'd protect you ? I barely made it this time, and that's what angers me the most." He turned to her, and finally noticed her trembling figure. 'Crap', he thought, 'I'm not supposed to make her cry!' He carefully approached her. "Mogami-san?"

She said nothing, afraid that her voice would betray her. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she jerked at his contact, as if he had slapped her. That made him worry even more.

"Mogami-san, look at me. Please." The gentleness of his tone made her obey, and he froze at what he saw. She really was trying hard not to let her tears fall, and her eyes showed just how much she was frightened. He didn't hesitate a second before pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Mogami-san, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scolded you. I shouldn't have let you out there alone. I'm sorry..." A soft whimper reached his ears, and he pulled her even closer, as he felt wet tears dampening his shirt. The whimper soon transformed into words he could barely make out.

"I hate it... I really hate it... The fact that I'm powerless against men... That I'm completely at their mercy... A mere toy in their hands..." She had gripped his shirt so tightly that he was wondering if the material would ever return to a normal form. "If only I could find a way to fight them off..."

At this Ren froze. That didn't sound like a bad idea... He slowly detached himself from her, enough to be able to raise her chin towards him. Her devastated face was something that hurt him deeply down his heart. He'd do whatever would be possible to stop her from ever looking like that again.

"I think that your wish can be granted, Mogami-san." She blinked at him. 'How?' Was the question her eyes asked him. "If it's alright with you, I could help you learn a few moves that would make a guy think twice before bothering you." Surprised, Kyouko couldn't help but stare at him in wonder. Why would he do that for her?

"I know it would be hard for you to follow a professional course, both because of your financial situation and the little spare time you have in your hands." She was about to protest, probably about his own lack of free time to spare, but he continued before she could speak. "Let's think about it this way: your payment to me would be the cooking lessons you're giving me, and I would be less worried about you if I knew how well you defend yourself. So, do we have a deal, here?"

Kyouko's smile was a good answer enough.

* * *

**So? Do you like it still? Do you like the new turn of events (which wasn't planned AT ALL, I might add, I never thought about those fighting lessons until I wrote Kyouko's wish :p)?**

**Please, tell me whatever you think about it, so that I can correct or adjust things!**

**Thank you for reading this! (And I really hope that I didn't write too many language mistakes... I had a hard time with some prepositions (at least, that's what it's called in my mother language, French), and since I'm still writing without being beta-ed... i tend to worry a lot about that!)**

**See you!  
**


	8. Chapter 8 : Trouble at the caverns!

**Hello! Here I am again with another chapter, all thanks to Fangurl Ayane, who kindly betaed me and helped me correct lots of things.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skip Beat!, I never will.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 8: Trouble at the caverns!

The following day was really busy. The director was very strict, and did not hesitate to make them redo a scene 15 times if necessary. Of course, Kyouko did her best to avoid NG's, and until now, things had gone rather smoothly. Acting opposite Tsuruga Ren was really something thrilling. She had to fight with all she had in order not to be sucked in by the man's acting. So far, she had managed not to be completely fooled by him, sometimes catching herself at the last second. Each take was a battle she was determined to win, and she always ended up drained of energy at the end of each of them. That didn't stop her from feeling excited, because she was convinced that she was doing alright up until now. She could still keep up with him, and that sole thought brought her so much joy that she thought she could burst. She was growing as an actress, finding new sides of herself along the way.  
"Thank you for your hard work!"  
Kyouko sighed. Today's work was over, she could finally get some well-deserved rest.  
"Kyouko-chan, Tsuruga-kun, can I have a quick word with you, please?" Tachibana-san, the director, asked.  
"Sure." The two actors complied, while the others were either packing things or went back to change.  
"First, let me say thank you for your hard work. I'm really pleased with how things turned out. I knew it from the first time I saw you two together. Your chemistry is really good!" He said enthusiastically.  
"Eh? Chemistry?" Asked Kyouko, frowning. What did the director mean by that?  
"I've seen Tsuruga-kun act numerous times against other people, and... well, let's just say that usually, he is the one to draw his partner's act out. The results are pretty good, but... for some reason, this doesn't seem to be the case here."  
Kyouko's face fell. Did he mean that she was no good, after all? That Tsuruga-san wasn't reacting the way he should towards her because she was still an inexperienced rookie, no matter what Satsuki-san thought? But then, why did he say that their chemistry was good? Things were starting to get confusing here!  
"That is a rare sight, to see Tsuruga-kun act alongside his partner, without always leading the play. It's as if you're both made of the same material. Unlike so many other actors, you actually respond to him with your own strength, Kyouko-chan, and not thanks to his acting. Sure, it's not as powerful as his yet, but you're definitely going to catch up to him someday. If I were you, I'd be careful, Tsuruga-kun. In a few years, this girl could be a real threat for the title of the best actor of Japan!" He laughed, not aware of the state he'd put his leading actress in.  
Kyouko was shocked. Sure, she'd been doing her best to stand on her own two feet while acting opposite Ren, but she was still nowhere near his level yet! How could he say such things as being made of the same material as him, or even think about her being a menace for Ren's current title? It was ridiculous! The proof was right there: wasn't she always exhausted from fighting against Ren's influence on scene?  
"S-Surely, you don't mean that, Director?" She quietly said. "I'm still a rookie in this industry, so it's impossible for me to be compared to Tsuruga-san right now."  
"A rookie? Kyouko-chan, this hasn't anything to do with being a rookie or not. I'm just stating what I see from my seat. Don't you agree with me, Tsuruga-kun?"  
Ren opened his mouth for the first time. "I don't know if she's 'made of the same material' as me, Director, but I know for certain that Mogami-san has the potential to become a great actress. I must confess, it's a real pleasure to be able to act opposite her." His smile was almost too dazzling for the poor girl. But his words had made her blush. 'So he likes to play against me?' That thought made her smile too.  
"It's an honor as well as a great pleasure to be able to work with you too, Tsuruga-san." She bowed to her senpai, red with embarrassment.  
"Anyway, there's something I want to discuss with you two."Added the director. "Since everything's going smoothly so far, we're going to shoot more romantic scenes, as Ryu is beginning to show his feelings for Eri."  
Kyouko became rigid at the mention of romantic scenes. It was that time already? She still hadn't overcome her weakness! It had been a while since her last training session with her senpai, and she still didn't feel confident enough.  
"The next step in the characters' relationship will be taken in this on-location shoot. Ryu is kind of aware of his growing feelings for Eri and unconsciously starts to act upon them, which confuses him very much. After seeing the complex romance in Dark Moon, I guess you won't have a problem with it, Tsuruga-kun. As for you, Kyouko-chan, you only have to be a little bit confused for now, nothing you can't handle I'm sure. I'm counting on the both of you!" And with that he just left them on their own, going off to some unknown place.  
Ren turned towards the girl, and saw her uncertain face. He almost could guess what was going on in her mind. For sure she was wondering if she would be able to endure the touching they'd have to do in the future scenes, most of them involving tight and impulsive hugs. He took a big breath before suggesting something that he knew would half-kill him.  
"Mogami-san, if you'd like, maybe we could train a bit tonight in my room? You don't seem to be confident about the next scenes." Kyouko turned to him, a sheepish grin on her face. "Well, I'd love to, if it's not a bother to you." And just like that, another training session was planned.

It wasn't until much later that Kyouko found herself in the comfortable bed of her room. She was totally worn out from the two hours she had spent in her senpai's company. She'd had a hell of a problem with the whole hugging thing. Ren had embraced her the whole evening, and she couldn't help but go stiff most of the time. Well, the fact that she had somehow started to relax in the middle of their training was undeniable. She had fallen asleep in his arms, and Ren had woken her up an hour later when his self-control had threatened to break, (Kyouko had started to shift, thus causing some interesting frictions against his own body). She had apologized for her rude behavior as well as scolded him for not waking her earlier.  
Still, even after that unwanted nap, Kyouko was exhausted, and sleep took over as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The following day was as hectic as the previous one. Soon, they had to face a scene where Ren had to hug her, first from behind, and later while facing her. Ryu had slight issues with a waiter in the restaurant they were supposed to eat at. Said waiter was obviously flirting with the fairy, who could hide her wings at will, and complimenting her on her extraordinary complexion. The first hug happened right outside the restaurant, where Ryu caught up with Eri, who was angry at Ryu's snappy answers to the waiter and had decided to get some fresh air. The hug was basically saying, "Sorry" and "Don't go".  
Kyouko was fairly confident with this one, since she only had to reluctantly give in to Ryu's pleading. However, the next hug was another story. It was a bit after the restaurant scene, which Kyouko cleared in one take, and they were calmly walking along the shore. The atmosphere brought Ryu to confess to Eri that she had given him a new start in life, and he was grateful to her for that. The hug here meant "Thank you" and a bit of something along the lines of, "You bring me light". Kyouko was supposed to give him a friendly hug back, with small happiness showing on her features.  
"CUT!" The director yelled. "Kyouko-chan, you're not into your character!" The two actors quickly separated, and Kyouko profusely apologized to the director and Ren.  
"I'm sorry, please, let me correct that..." Her face was tomato red. Since the girl had had her head on his chest, Ren hadn't noticed what had happened. Kyouko, on the other hand, mentally chided herself. 'Stupid girl! How could you lose yourself into his fragrance like that! And while filming, too! Don't you have any shame?' She was mortified that she could have let herself bask in his scent to the point of forgetting all about her role.  
"Mogami-san, is everything alright?" Asked a slightly concerned Ren. The girl had been silent for a bit too long, thus not beginning the scene.  
The girl jumped. "Yes! Sorry, let's do the part again, I'll stay in character this time."  
As they did the retake Kyouko stood true to her character, and there were no more NG's for this scene. The remainder of the day went by rather quickly, and Kyouko didn't have any more problems with her acting. However, Ren could almost swear that the girl was glancing at him from time to time. He wouldn't mind it, quite the contrary, if it wasn't for the frown that was on her face each time she looked at him. That was rather... disturbing, to say the least. It was as if he'd done something wrong to her and she was trying to figure out what it was. Now, see the irony? If she didn't know what it was, how could he know about it? He sighed. 'Better leave things as they are, since she's not trying to avoid me...'  
"It's a wrap, people! Now, for those who wanted a tour of the caverns inside the cliff, let's meet in the hotel lobby in an hour. Get moving!"  
Kyouko's eyes were shining brightly. She skipped all the way to her senpai, a big smile plastered on her face. "Tsuruga-san! Let's go to the caverns! I've heard really good stories about them. It's said that pirates used to live here, and there's still some dwellings left! Isn't that exciting?"  
Ren chuckled. "Yes, why not? I'll ask Yashiro about it, to see if he's interested. Maybe Satsuki-san will be too?"  
"I'll ask her right away! See you in the lobby then, Tsuruga-san!"

…...

"Now, if you would like to follow me, we'll be seeing another cavern with yet another remnant of the pirates' habitations. Legend has it that in one of those, a very big treasure is hidden. Well, of course, no one ever found a single pound of gold, but we often have some gold-diggers around, lurking for a chance to..." The guide walked away with the rest of the visitors, while Kyouko couldn't take her eyes off the small traces of past habitations. Her dreamy state told Ren that without a doubt, she was imagining rough pirates going home after a long journey on their big ship, full of scary stories and gold. When she started muttering in a low voice, Ren just knew she was taking on the role of the pirate leader and living her own pirate story in her mind. Yashiro and the make-up artist had long gone, but not before his evil manager could wink at his charge, clearly meaning to enjoy his time alone with the oblivious girl.  
It had been at least an hour now, and Ren still couldn't get tired of observing her. She was now making small movements, but they were so full of intensity that he was reluctant to wake her from her imaginary land to tell her that if they didn't go soon, they would be trapped inside the caverns, as they were locked at night.  
Suddenly, he could hear a group approaching. 'Isn't it a bit late to allow any more visitors today?' He wondered, before he caught bits of the on-going conversation.  
"Hey, do you think all of the tourists are gone?"  
"Yes, I saw the guide bid farewell to them when we entered."  
"But won't they notice the bodies at the entrance?"  
"You idiot, you think our captain's incompetent or what? Two of our men stood behind for that purpose. I bet those guards are having sweet dreams right now."  
"Shut up, all of you! You're giving me a headache. Keep walking and start digging right after we arrive, morons! If we don't want to deal with other bodies, let's do this quickly and not get caught."  
A cold shiver ran up Ren's spine, and he swiftly placed a hand on Kyouko's mouth, motioning for her to follow him to a small alcove that would hopefully hide them from the obviously ill-intentioned group. By now, Kyouko was totally aware of the situation, as the men kept talking about some 'bodies' to dispose of, as well as where they would start digging. She stood against Ren, as he held her as close as possible to him, in a protective stance. He was tense, as he listened intently to the conversation.  
"Let's start with this cavern. Go at it for an hour. If neither of you find anything, just start on the next one. We'll take the third and fourth one."  
From where Ren stood, four men were left in their cavern, and five others had advanced. Add the two at the entrance, and there were eleven bad guys trapping them in the cavern. How were they supposed to get away like this? And if by luck the four men in there didn't find them, they still were trapped for an hour... He looked at the girl in his arms. Kyouko's face was pale, but she wasn't shivering from fright. She had her lips kept in a thin line, her fists full of his shirt, but her eyes were cold and calculating. She pressed herself harder against him as one of the guys approached their hiding place, but luckily for them, the men were only interested in the ground, as they began to use their shovels. However, a few minutes later, they were abruptly interrupted as a piercing shriek emanated from outside.  
"The hell, what was that?" The men quickly dropped their tools and got out of the cavern.  
Ren saw their chance and he took Kyouko's hand to run out of this mess. "Let's go, quick!" The girl nodded, and they ran as fast as they could, when a second cry made Kyouko stop dead, fear written all over her face. "Kyouko, come on!" Ren tugged at her arm, but she was frozen on the spot.  
"T-The person shrieking... It's Satsuki-san!" Ren's blood ran cold. Could it be possible, that by a twisted kind of chance, Yashiro and the woman had wanted to wait for them in one of the caverns too?  
"Don't touch her, you filthy piece of tra-omph!" Yes, definitely, Yashiro was with her. That was a reassuring fact, Ren thought. At least, if he had to face all of the bad guys, he wouldn't be fighting alone.

"Stay still or we'll have to hurt your lovely girlfriend over here."  
The silence that ensued made Ren think that his manager had complied. Who wouldn't, in these conditions? He was about to run to him to help, when two arms encircled him from behind trying to restrain him. "Don't go barging in like that, Tsuruga-san! We need to think of some plan first!"  
Her words held some logic, and so both of them retreated to a dark corner (well, the place was full of those, so it's wasn't hard to hide in there).  
"So, how many men do you think there are?" She asked him, her face awfully pale. Ren could see how worried she was about their friends, but she hadn't lost her head like he almost did.  
"From what I heard, eleven. Five were in the third cavern, four in ours, and two at the entrance."  
"Get back to work! We don't have much time, I'll deal with those guys." They heard the captain yell. Silently praying that 'dealing with them' wasn't a way to say 'I'll kill them', the two actors began to think of a plan. Suddenly, Kyouko's eyes lit up. "Maybe this could work..."

...

"Er, Director Tachibana-san?"  
"Yes, Keichi-kun?" One of the staff members bowed to the director.  
"I've been informed that Tsuruga-san, Kyouko-chan, Yashiro-san and Satsuki-san all went missing after the tour. No one saw them around when it ended. Maybe they're still inside?"  
"Well, I know that the guide usually locks the caverns after hours, so that could be a possibility. Let's go check!"

...

The four men were digging again when one of them heard a strange sound coming from outside the cavern.  
"Did you hear that, guys?"  
The others stopped their work. "Hear what?" The first guy listened intently but heard nothing else. He shrugged.  
"Must be me imagining things." They all went back to their work.  
A few seconds later, however, the man stopped again. "It's that sound again. Didn't you hear it?"  
When the others shook their heads, the first guy threw his shovel on the ground. "That's it, I'm going to check it out."  
"Don't be long... Cause ghosts might get you otherwise." Snickered one of his accomplices.  
"Shut up!" And with that, he stormed out of the cavern. Once outside, everything was quiet. Then, a soft moan could be heard. The man turned a corner, and there he found a girl on the ground, in a suggestive pose, one of her hands on her ankle, the other supporting her weight. She was showing quite a bit of cleavage. "Oh, there's someone in here, thank God!" She smiled at the man in a very, very sexy way. "I lost my way, and twisted my ankle. Would you help me off the ground, mister? With those strong arms – she motioned towards them – I'm sure you'll have me up in no time." She winked at him. The poor man had lost his ability to speak. He was about to move towards her when he suddenly got hit hard on the head and fell, unconscious.  
Kyouko quickly picked herself off the ground and gave herself a quick tap behind her head, freeing Natsu's spirit from her body. "Ewww... I really don't like using Natsu that way. But I'm glad it worked, Tsuruga-san." Said man emerged from the shadows.  
"You did well, Mogami-san. Ten more to go."

They succeeded in knocking two more guys out with this tactic, but the last one, alas, seemed to have bits of intelligence as he directly went to tell his boss about the sudden disappearance of three of their men. Ren intercepted him before he could get there, and shut him up like the others.

"Four down, now how are we going to get to the others?" Kyouko asked her senpai, a bit worried as he was holding his fist in his other hand, trying to dull out the pain from the last punch. Man, had that chin been hard!  
"Well, I could always imitate the voice of one of the men and lure some in the cavern, with you to distract them again..."  
"Let's try it out." Ren wasn't too happy to let her play the role of the bait, but they didn't have a choice. He didn't want to fight five men head on, with the possibility that the two accomplices at the entrance would join in during the middle of the fight. That would make him fall back to Kuon too fast and too hard. If things went badly, he would do it, but if he could avoid it, then all the better.

"Captain! We found something strange in here!" Ren said, with the perfect imitation of the first man they took down.

"You two, go check it out. I'm not letting those guys out of my sight."

And easily enough, Ren put them to sleep as soon as their eyes focused on Kyouko's form. They then waited, certain that the 'captain' would be curious enough about the situation to send at least another man.  
"Damn, what are those idiots doing! You, go check it out!" And yet another poor man fell into the actors' trap.

At this point, the leader began to worry. "That's not normal... Let's get out of here, I have a bad feeling about this."  
One of his companions looked at their prisoners. "And what do we do with them?"  
The man shrugged. "Kill them. They've seen our faces." Satsuki uttered a muffled cry as the man advanced towards them with a sharp knife in hand. Neither of them could do a thing, as they were tied up and gagged. Suddenly, the air grew cold, as two figures entered the cavern. Their eyes both screamed bloody murder. Kyouko's demons made sure the man with the knife couldn't move an inch, while the other two bandits were paralyzed from the fear that Ren instilled. They advanced towards their prey in sync, and Kyouko dashed at the man threatening her friends with a cry. In a matter of seconds, the man was laying unconscious, bruises forming everywhere.  
In their attempt at fleeing, the two other men collided with each other, and fought to stand up until Ren knocked one of them out. The last one, the so-called 'captain', cowered in fear, before grabbing his own knife and launched at Kyouko, who was the closest to him. Ren's eyes widened. "Kyouko!" He ran towards her as she turned around, the knife coming straight for her heart.  
Yashiro gasped, Satsuki closed her eyes shut.  
There was a scream. Satsuki cracked a eye open, and shut it immediately after. There was blood everywhere on the ground. She heard some struggling, then someone fell in the blood with a nauseating splash. Still not daring to open her eyes, she concentrated on the man sitting next to her. His muffled yells had stopped, and he seemed to be wrestling against his bindings. She then felt a hand on her shoulder.  
"Everything's alright, now, Satsuki-san. There, let me help you with those ropes." She opened her eyes, only to find Yashiro working on her knots.  
"W-What happened? I closed my eyes as soon as I saw the man go for Kyouko's life. Is she alright? Where is she? And Tsuruga-kun?" She began to fret.  
"Calm down. They're right here." Yashiro got up, and she could finally picture the whole scene. The bandit was lying on the ground, and the actors stood behind him, Ren's arm in Kyouko's hands. She was bandaging it with her own shirt (she had an undershirt, so it was okay), her expression unreadable. Ren was looking tired, but a small smile graced his lips.  
"Tsuruga-kun, are you injured?" Satsuki asked, worry written all over her face. The man softly smiled at her.  
"Don't worry, Satsuki-san. It's nothing big. Ouch!" he yelled, as Kyouko pulled the bandages together, hard.  
"Sorry." She muttered, not looking sorry at all for hurting him.  
Yashiro smirked at that. "Seems that your heroic act wasn't well accepted by the young miss here..."  
Kyouko humphed. "More like a stupid act than heroic. Who in their right mind would put their arm straight in the line of a knife?"  
"Hum, I don't know, so that the girl right behind doesn't get stabbed in the heart?" Ren answered, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.  
"I don't get it. Since you got here in time to protect me from the attack, don't tell me you didn't have time to grab his arm instead of getting hurt!"  
Ren looked at her, speechless. "So that's why you're angry? Because I didn't fully stop his attack?"  
"Yes! I'm really grateful that you saved me, but I know you had the ability to avoid that hit. And don't you dare contradict me, I saw you fight more than once tonight!" Her eyes were shining with anger, and she didn't seem to realize that she was talking to her senpai.  
"If I really could have avoided it, I wouldn't have let it hit me. But I couldn't. And physical abilities aren't at fault, here. Now, let's get out of here, there's still two more bad guys left."  
"B-But..."  
"Kyouko-chan." Yashiro interrupted, as Ren walked towards the exit. "Ren was far too worried about you to think straight at that time. His only thought was to protect you, and there wasn't any place left for something else."  
Kyouko frowned. "Do I cause him to make mistakes?" Yashiro softly laughed, as all three of them followed Ren. "He wouldn't be happy to hear you say it like that. Just think of it this way: he cares so much about you that he would do anything to prevent you from harm. Even make stupid mistakes."  
That made her frown harder. Yashiro sighed. Ren would have to spell it out for her if he wanted her to understand. Satsuki, however, couldn't help but think that Ren was very much in love with the young actress, and that his behavior was so romantic! She almost squealed in delight, totally forgetting that she had nearly been killed just moments ago.

"Kyouko-chan! Satsuki-san! Tsuruga-kun! Yashiro-san!" Said people stopped in their tracks, and in seconds police officers, the director and some of the staff members were rushing towards them. Seeing the blood on Ren and Kyouko's clothes, one of the police officers requested for an ambulance.  
"What the hell happened here? We found seven men knocked out cold, and no trace of either of you! Explain yourselves!" Demanded Director Tachibana.

After a few hours of explaining, mostly done by Kyouko since Ren had been taken to the hospital for a few stitches on his arm, they were finally free to go back to the hotel. All the way back, Satsuki was marveling at how Ren and Kyouko had been brave. She kept telling Kyouko that she was a lucky girl for having such a wonderful man at her side, and that she should make a move on him before someone else did.  
The first time she heard that, Kyouko had choked on her saliva, then spluttered something among the lines of 'not appropriate for a kohai' and 'not worthy'. Satsuki sighed. The girl was really dense.  
"I just hope that you won't end up hurting his feelings by continuously rejecting him."  
Hours later, Kyouko still wondered how she had been rejecting Ren, as her friend said. Not finding the answer, she put that thought aside and tried to sleep. But she couldn't help feeling happy that he was indeed by her side.

* * *

**Here! All done! As usual, the more people review and tell me what they think about it, the more fired up I am to write and update quickly. I'll do my best to post the next chapter soon, and I believe this time I really will, since I have it all planned out and am really excited to write it. **

**To those who don't want to have a glimpse of what is going to be in the next chapter, STOP READING THIS THIS INSTANT and go read some other story or review?**

**For those who want to know, I'll tell you one thing. After 8 chapters, finally, Sho is going to appear!**


	9. Chapter 9: Sweet feelings

**Here I am again! I bet some of you thought I was dead, lol. But no, I'm back again, with a chapter slightly smaller than usual, but I guess I'll have to change the lenght of my chapters anyway if I don't want to udpade once every 6 months. I'm sorry for being a really slow writer... Thanks for all the reviewers so far, your reviews make me exceptionally happy ^^. Still no beta on this chapter, so yeah, all errors are mine.**

**EDIT: Sorry for those who read this chapter already, you'll have to reread it once, since I completely changed the end. This chapter is dedicated to Rutoh-chan, who was a wonderful help for the dialogue part (that means that all of the errors before that are mine alone). Thank you!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skip Beat!, but I do own DYFS. No money off this.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Sweet feelings

The following morning was as busy as the previous days since they got here. They did a few more scenes by the beach, where Kyouko thoroughly enjoyed herself. She played with the water, truly sparkling while doing so.

"Come on, Ryu, don't you want to have a little bit of fun?" Eri exclaimed, a playful (but still innocent) smile on. Ryu couldn't help but smile back. She irradiated life miles around her. Who was he to resist such a beautiful creature?

"I guess I could... At least for the pleasure of drowning you in the water." And with that, he launched at her, while she let a horrified cry.

"You wouldn't dare, you stupi-...!" But it was too late, he had already tackled her under the water.

Eri emerged with a loud splash, and threw daggers at Ryu. "You'll regret ever doing that, you evil human!" And with a war cry, she threw herself at him, in an attempt to make him taste the salty water. Ryu chuckled and used this opportunity to catch her and made them both plunge. When he saw her face as they resurfaced, he broke into fits of laughter. Eri pouted, and splashed him straight in the face. Now, that was a sight that made HER laugh. The Almighty Ryu, cold to everything and always draped in his dark aura, looked like a drowned rat. Ryu retaliated, and they went on for a while, before deciding to get out of the water.

The scene ended with Kyouko looking tenderly at Ren, her character and herself both relieved and glad to see such a joyful demeanor from Ryu. After the director called it a wrap, Kyouko shook her head. It was getting harder to separate her own thoughts from her character's. She absolutely had to concentrate harder on this task, or else she'd end up treating her senpai like Eri would treat Ryu. And THAT couldn't possibly happen.

…...

Shoko sighed. Her charge was lazying around once again, a smug look on his face. When he wasn't working, he always wore this kind of expression since his Valentine encounter with Kyouko. He wouldn't tell her exactly what he'd done, but he obviously was pleased with it.

Sho was lying on the couch, his eyes in the general direction of the TV. He wasn't really paying attention to it, it was time for the ads anyway. He quickly glanced at the current one. There was a big crowd walking in a heavy atmosphere, and there was a small girl in the middle that was trying to walk against the flow. Nothing interesting.

Suddenly he stood straight, his eyes firmly locked on the girl. He had caught a glimpse of golden eyes, the kind of color that could only belong to one person. "What the hell...?"

Shoko frowned at him. What now? She followed his gaze and exclaimed in surprise: "Oh, my! That's Kyouko-chan, isn't it?" She too focused on the ad. The scene had changed, and Kyouko was looking longingly at a handsome man. It was obvious that she liked him, but didn't dare to go up to him. The scene changed again, and there was an elegant perfume bottle in her hands now. She inhaled its scent and turned her eyes to the camera, a firm look of determination in them. The next scene made Shoko gasp and Sho dropped the remote, mouth agape.

There she was, in a indecent yet incredibly sexy dress, slowly making her way to the man, walking like a feline about to jump on her prey. The skimpy red dress was complimenting her not-so-plain forms, Sho noted. He licked his lips unconsciously. The glow of her jewelry added to the enthralling aura she was emitting. A teasing smile tugging at her lips, she bent towards the man, showing off a bit of skin. Her soft-looking lips approached the man's collarbone first, then the nape of his neck, and finally his ears, without even once touching his skin. Sho gulped. He couldn't help but look hungrily at this goddess-like creature that was supposed to be his childhood friend.

She began to touch him. Lightly, first, just stroking his chest, then more demanding as one hand reached his right cheek, while the other caressed his neck on the way to his hair. They were about to close the distance between them, when she suddenly pushed him off her, and sexily walked away, a wicked smile on her face.

Sho awoke from his trance with a start. Somehow, he had felt as if he had been the man in the ad. As if it had been him she had teased the way she had. As if she had wanted to play a sexy game with him. Reality sank in as another ad began to play. It hadn't been _him_.

...

It was their last night on the site. Ren had proposed that their first fighting session should be held at the beach late in the evening, so that nobody would bother them, and if they fell, they wouldn't hurt themselves. Kyouko had happily accepted, and soon they found themselves all alone under the moonlight near the calm sea. Ren internally sighed. Why couldn't she at least feel a little bit anxious? He was a man, with needs and desires, and if he had wanted to seduce her and make her his, this would have been the perfect time and place, with all the romantic scenery a girl could dream about.

"Okay, so the first move that you'll be learning is how to free yourself from an unwanted grip." He gently took her wrist, and directed her other hand on his upper arm. "All you need to do is apply pressure here... and I'll let go, if I don't want you to break my arm. It's quite simple, but effective. You only need your opponent to have their arm stretched for it to work." Kyouko nodded silently.

"Here, try on your own." He took her wrist again, more aggressively, and the girl tried to pull from his grasp while lightly pushing on his arm. He chuckled. "Now, if you really want to break free, you'll have to put a bit more strength than that." She pushed harder. "You need to be quicker." She was too afraid to hurt him to make things work. He murmured the magical words: "Fuwa Sho". Ren quickly let go, before rubbing his arm a bit. "Yeah, just like that."

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san! Did I hurt you?" She looked so contrite that he couldn't help but smile heavenly at her. "Don't worry about me, I'm not made of glass, Mogami-san."

They viewed some other tricks that would hurt the assailant's arm, then moved on to something a bit more difficult. Ren caught both her arms behind her, and leveled her chin with his free hand. 'I'm so going to hell for this...' "I'm about to kiss you. What do you do?" She tried to free her arms, not to avail, and, as he was coming nearer, she turned her head. He chuckled. "That could work, but I'll still end up kissing you, only not on the lips. And I can force you to look my way if I use just a little of strength." He matched his actions with his words, his eyes totally focused on her lips. "I'm going to kiss you if you don't find something quickly."

'He can't be serious?' She thought, totally petrified.

'Please, let her stop me...' He silently prayed, unable to stop himself. He saw her close her eyes in panic, and gulped. 'If there is any kind god out there...' And then he saw stars.

He gasped and fell on his knees, eyes almost filled with tears. She had kneed him. "Offff... ugh... I... suppose that... works just fine..." He whispered, silently thanking whatever god that effectively stopped him from doing something stupid, while cursing from the pain.

Kyouko crouched down next to him, and began to repeatedly apologize; "I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-san! I panicked, and I reacted on instinct. I'm really, really sorry!" She wasn't an expert, but she knew that that part of a man's anatomy was especially fragile. She had seen drunken men pass out from the pain when in a fight. 'What if I castrated him?' That thought rendered her almost hysterical. 'Oh my god, what if he can't have babies anymore?' She was on the verge of crying, while imagining Ren pursuing her in court for the abrupt halt she had caused to the Tsuruga family.

Ren slowly got over the pain, and with just one look at her face, he knew she was in Dreamland again (currently re-baptized Horrorland at the moment). He inhaled deeply, and composed himself again. "Mogami-san?"

"I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't want to kill the Tsuruga dynasty, Your Honor! Please, spare meee!" She wailed. Ren stared at her, and decided he didn't want to know. 'This is getting embarrassing...' "I'm fine, Mogami-san, there's no need for you to panic." 'At least, now I know I won't have unwanted thoughts for a while...'

"I'm really sorry..." Kyouko softly said, returning from her imaginary trial.

Ren lied down on his back, and the poor girl sat silently beside him.

"So pretty..." Ren said after a moment of companionable silence. He was contemplating the bright stars, but he could also have meant that about her still flushed face. Kyouko looked up. "Yes, they are..." They each got lost in their reveries until Ren sat up. "Give me your hand."

Kyouko silently complied. He gently took it, and both of them could see how petite her hand seemed into his big one. He felt her pulse, and then began to touch the place on her wrist under the articulation of her thumb. He was searching for something, she could see, but he was lost in his thoughts, a frown on his face. 'Her heart beat is so calm... She isn't anxious at all about us being all alone here, about me touching her... As I thought, she really doesn't see me as a man...' Absorbed in his depressing thoughts, he didn't pay attention to what his hand was doing, until she yelped, retrieving her hurt wrist in a hurry.

"Ah, sorry, Mogami-san. I wanted to show you a weak spot on the wrist, but I got lost in thoughts. As you could feel, there's a special place that hurts a bit, and it could be useful for you to know. Here, try to find it on my wrist." He gave her his, and she took it with both her hands, on her lap. She examined it and hazardously pressed where she thought he had on her own member. Without much success. Five minutes later, she was still at it, a big frown on her features, but as determined as ever. 'I'm going to find that stupid-ah!' Ren had winced. She beamed at him (and strangely, she forgot to apologize for hurting him).

"I see you succeeded, but if you take that much time, it won't be of any use. Try again, on my other wrist." She nodded and set to work. A few seconds later, Ren winced again.

"Found it! I guess it was just about practice!" The man slightly chuckled. He said nothing else, not wanting to remove his hand from hers. It was Kyouko that broke the silence first.

"So, what do we do, now?"

Ren sighed. "I think it will be all for tonight. I can only show you some tricks, since I'm not really training you in martial arts. Next time, maybe we could see movements to immobilize your aggressor instead of simply free yourself, although I'd rather you don't do it unless forced to." Reluctantly, he withdrawn his hand, and got up. He missed the frown on the young girl's face.

The slowly got back to the hotel, talking about everything and nothing.

...

A few days later found Kyouko on a desk, doing some stupid paperwork for her LoveMe job. She doubted it would help her recover her 'lost emotion'. She was moodily doing her job, when Kanae entered the room, a stack of papers under her arm. She looked ready to kill.

Kyouko wisely chose to greet her calmly instead of hugging her to death.

"Hello, Moko-san. I see you have the same fate as me?" Kanae humphed.

"Paperwork! They make us do paperwork! Moh, how long do they plan to use us as their servants? We are actresses, we live to be on set, not to do stupid paperwork!" Kyouko smiled apologetically at her friend.

"I guess it's just part of the president's scheme... On the brighter side, we get pretty good opportunities to broaden our horizon." She was thinking of her job as Bo and the first time she got to play against Ren.

Kanae grumbled something that looked strangely like 'lucky to be a chicken, my *ss'. She sat down on the opposite site of the desk, and set to work.

Kyouko went back to her own papers as well, but it wasn't long before her mind drifted to the fighting lessons she was getting from her senpai. She couldn't help but remember the way his hands had felt on hers, and she shivered.

"What's up, Kyouko?" Asked Kanae. Kyouko froze. She hadn't thought that the other girl would have noticed.

"Nothing, Moko-san, there's nothing wrong with me!" She shook her hands before her in a panicked movement, which rose Kanae's suspicion. The girl looked like she was caught red-handed. But what for?

"Spill it. I know you're hiding something."

"I assure you, Moko-san, that there is absolutely noth-"

"Am I your best friend or not?" She looked at the horrified girl with teary eyes. "Don't you trust me? Kyouko-chan?"

And the deal was done. Kyouko told her everything that was on her mind (almost). Most of it concerned Ren, not that it surprised Kanae.

"So don't you think I'm being a huge burden to him? I mean, he's already helping me with my acting, and now he's teaching me how to defend myself from possible attackers... Isn't he wasting his precious time on me?"

"But you teach him how to cook in return, right?"

"Yes, but that's so little compared to what he's doing for me! And it's not like he can't take lessons from a real chef either!"

Kanae sighed. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe he wanted to spend as much time as he could with you? That he appreciates your company?"

Kyouko frowned. "Looks like he does, but I can't even begin to see why..."

Kanae rolled her eyes. "Oh Kyouko, it's quite obvious now. At first I wasn't sure, but he did things that can't be mistaken for friendly actions. He's head over heels in love with you."

Kyouko scoffed. "That's ridiculous. I mean, he could have any woman he wants, why would he chose someone like me?"

Kanae pondered for a while before answering. "Maybe he's a masochist? He knows that you're LoveMe number one, but still tries to get your attention."

Kyouko shook her head. "No, that can't be. He doesn't love me. But I feel that he sometimes treats me like a child... So maybe that's it? He sees me as a little sister and feels responsible for me?"

Kanae shook her head in defeat. "Alright, let's say he does. What are you going to do about it? Don't you want him to acknowledge you as a grown-up actress?" She knew better than trying to persuade her that the tall actor was in love with her. If she was going to help them - reluctantly, mind you - she would have to be pretty subtle. But this was her best friend, and although she didn't like the idea of that man at her side, she knew he deeply cared for her. She would be happy with him. So she wouldn't spare any effort, and help them get together.

"Well, I plan on showing him my acting skills to the best of my ability. I'm trying my best in the drama we're starring, and I hope that at the end, he will acknowledge me as a professional actress. I wish he could deem me worthy of playing against him." She had a far-off look on her face, as if she was dreaming about the situation she just described. That made Kanae wonder if she wasn't falling for the man, too.

"Kyouko, what do you feel about him?" The question shook her friend out of her reverie. She frowned.

" What do I feel?... Well, I respect him and he's my senpai, so it's normal for me to look up to him. I admire his professionalism and acting abilities. He's really nice to me, so I feel grateful... That's all, I guess." 'If we exclude the silly sensations I get when I'm near him... But those don't even deserve to be acknowledged. I won't let them get in my way, I'll bury them so deep in my heart that they will disappear after a while...' Kyouko didn't voice her thoughts, and she smiled kindly at her friend (or so she thought), hiding them from her. After all, if she wasn't going to acknowledge them, why would she talk about them?

They talked a bit more, and then went back to work. Kanae, after seeing the creepy smile her friend had sent her, had dropped the subject.

...

It was soon time for lunch, and the two LoveMe girls were on their way to L.A. Hearts when they saw a commotion in the entrance hall. Curious, they approached. Kyouko soon regretted it.

Fuwa Sho was leaning on a column, his arms crossed and his face closed. His manager was begging him to come with him, that he had work to do, but nothing she could say was affecting him. His eyes soon fell on his ex-childhood friend, and Kyouko cringed. He strolled towards her, as if he owned the place. When he finally stopped right in front of her, she opened her mouth.

"What are you doing here, Shotaro?" She spat at him. He sneered.

"I came to talk to you. In private." He added, after glancing at the crowd.

"I have nothing to say to you. Go back to work." Shoko-san prayed that the young man would listen and follow her, but she knew better than hoping for the impossible.

"You may not, but I have a lot to say to you, and I don't think you'd want an audience to hear about it."

Seeing as he wouldn't change his mind, she decided to end this quickly. He was, after all, disturbing the people at her workplace. "Fine, let's go." She motioned for him to follow her, and told Kanae that she would join her at the restaurant. "I won't be long, I promise." Kanae only nodded, a bit worried that she would face her enemy alone. It wouldn't be good for her image if she killed him in the LME building, with all those witnesses. A dark, quiet place would have been so much better.

Hoping that nothing would go wrong, she went to the restaurant, a frown on her face.

…

"What do you think you were doing?" he rounded on her, once they had reached a scarcely used corridor.

"What are you talking about Shotaro?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" he shouted, becoming angrier by the minute.

Not liking his attitude one bit, she replied coldly, "I can assure you I don't know what is going on on your head. And I don't want to have anything to do with it."

"You sure didn't mind having something to do with that guy," he sneered, disgust evident in his voice.

"'That guy?' Who are you talking about?" Kyouko frowned, not knowing where he was heading at all.

"You know, the one you were clinging onto like a love-struck idiot in your stupid CM. But then maybe there was another one you were thinking about? Maybe you like to cling onto that stupid tall actor, too?"

"My relationship with Tsuruga-san is of no concern to you!" she growled, offended by his sneaky allusion. "We're only kouhai and senpai, after all..." she added softly to herself, her eyes to the ground, her voice crestfallen. However, Sho caught it, and his eyes widened at the implications of this sudden reaction. But before he could utter a word, she had already straightened herself and glared at him. "I'm not a 'love-struck idiot', Shotaro. I won't be fooled twice, and I'll never fall in love again."

Her words were lost on the young man, who was still dumbstruck. 'What the _hell_ was THAT!' He thought. 'She acts as if she wants to be _more_ than a simple kouhai to him! But she can't have fallen for him, can she?'

While Sho was trying to convince himself that she couldn't be in love with Tsuruga Ren, Kyouko was still speaking. "So you see, you don't need to worry about being associated with me, even as ex-childhood friends. I'll act the way directors want me to, but outside the set I will never be seen acting all clingy to a man." She then turned to leave. "I believe that was the reason why you wanted to talk to me, and now that you're assured that your image won't be tarnished because of me, I have nothing left to say to you."

She walked away, leaving the blond man gaping at her like a fish. He didn't have to know her heart was already wavering.

**There, all done! I know, it's short, I'm sorry about that. I have a few things to ask you people. I will stop posting (you won't see the difference anyway, since I'm so slow lol) until I've completely written the grand lines of the story, and then I'll update more often, so that you won't have to wait for half a year to get an update.**

**Knowing that, let's see what I want to ask you:**

**- first, do you want me to post chapters of the length I usually post, or should I post much shorter chapters?**

**-second, I know I made grammar mistakes, could you point them out to me? I can't improve if I don't know where I did them, and I really want to improve (I'm not asking for a beta, I gave up on that, but if there's a kind soul somewhere that could help me with it...EDIT: I have now a beta, and a very good one at that! Thank you Rutoh-chan!).**

**-third, I think the story won't be more than 20 chapters (more like 15ish), but I'd like to know what you people would want to see more in this story: more DYFS scenes? More Ren/Kyouko scenes? Or Kanae, Sho, Reino, etc.? More action? More romance? More humor? I know, I'm asking a lot of things, but I think I would write more quickly if I knew what you think.**

**-fourth, I'd really like to know how you found this chapter too XD. I had a hard time with it cause I wrote it bits by bits, on at least 5 different supports, I lost some, then had to rewrite some parts so I got doubles of some scenes, etc. .**

**Okay, that's the longest A/N I've written in a long time... I'll try to do my best to update quickly, it's a promise.**


End file.
